GENEVA: The World Health Organization has confirmed that neither the painkiller Tylenol nor vaccines have been demonstrated to cause autism.
This statement follows contrary comments from the United States president and his administration earlier this week.
President Donald Trump insisted on Monday that pregnant women should avoid Tylenol due to an unproven link to autism.
He also urged major changes to the standard vaccines administered to babies.
Medical groups have long cited acetaminophen, or paracetamol, as among the safest painkillers to take during pregnancy.
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic acknowledged that some observational studies had suggested a possible association between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen and autism.
He told reporters in Geneva that the evidence remains inconsistent.
A number of subsequent studies have found no such relationship according to Jasarevic.
He warned against drawing casual conclusions about the role of acetaminophen in autism.
Vaccines were also a topic during Trump’s press conference on Monday when he repeated anti-vaccine movement talking points.
He sowed doubt over standard vaccines including the MMR shot which covers measles, mumps and rubella.
Trump implied he would end the common use of aluminium in vaccines despite its safety being widely studied.
Identifying the root of autism has been a pet cause of Trump’s health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy has for decades spread claims that vaccines cause autism.
Asked about the fears raised by the US president over childhood vaccines, Jasarevic stated clearly that vaccines do not cause autism.
The childhood immunisation schedule guided by WHO has been adopted by all countries and has saved at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years.
These schedules continually evolve with science and now safeguard against 30 infectious diseases.
Jasarevic warned that delayed or disrupted immunisation schedules sharply increase infection risk for both the child and the wider community.
Each missed vaccine dose increases the chances of contracting a life-threatening infectious disease. – AFP
