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ANKARA, Feb. 23-- Turkey's experts recently warned that epidemic diseases such as measles that have been off the grid for years might come back amid decreasing vaccination rate in the country in the past few years under the influence of anti-vaccine discourse. The anti-vaccination trend started with 183 people in 2011, reaching 980 in 2013 and 5,091 in 2017. In 2017, a total of 23,600 families declined compulsory vaccine, professor Mehmet Ceylan, head of pediatric infectious diseases at Ankara's Hacettepe Medical Faculty, said. The expert warned of an epidemic outbreak if vaccination rate falls under 95 percent, or some 50,000 people in Turkey. Ceylan said that diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus, which have been off the grid in Turkey for years, might show up again. The World Health Organization (WHO) also voiced concern about the increasing anti-vaccination movement in Turkey. An increasing number of groups were "misleading" the public about the effects of vaccines, harming their trust in getting vaccinated, the WHO said. Turkish health ministry has set up a special website to inform the public about vaccines and to fight false facts. But the anti-vaccination is increasingly active on social media, with slogans such as "I have no obligation to vaccinate." A great majority is concerned with the content of the vaccines such as use of mercury or aluminum. It's obligatory in Turkey that a baby to be given a total of 16 different types of vaccination in the first 24 months. Parents have to sign an official document holding them responsible, if they reject vaccination. | 
