Vaccines offer hope against several deadly diseases, and this should be said out loud so anti-vaccine campaigns are drowned out, a scientist said on Tuesday at the inauguration of an exhibition on vaccines at Science City.

Besides communicable diseases, vaccines can also help prevent or reduce the severity of non-communicable diseases like cancer.

Research is underway to find vaccines against many forms of cancer, said Partha Majumder, the national science chair, science and engineering board of the centre.

The travelling exhibition — Vaccines Injecting Hope — arrived in Calcutta after touring four other cities.

“It is a shame that anti-vaccine campaigns are rearing their head in many places in the world. Those who campaign against vaccines say that herd immunity will save the population, but the logic is absurd. Herd immunity does not kick in unless a large part of the population acquires immunity, which is obtained through vaccines,” said Majumder.

The anti-vaccine campaigns are becoming stronger. “It is therefore more important that we keep stressing and telling that vaccines offer hope against many diseases,” he said.

“In 2023, a scientist, whose research helped develop m-RNA vaccines, was awarded the Nobel Prize. The new government in the US is stopping funding for the project. Anti-vaccine campaigners argue that m-RNA vaccines are made of aborted foetus cells. This is a lie,” said Majumder.