Why trying to be safe can be risky

The Hatfield crash led to fears about rail safety

The action people take to avoid a perceived risk could actually prove more dangerous, according to doctors.

They say actions such as switching from rail to road after the Hatfield rail crash, and parents refusing to have their children immunised because of fears over measles, mumps and rubella could actually could do more harm than good.

Professor Sir Colin Berry, from the Barts and the London hospital, told a conference at the Royal College of Medicine in London people were ignorant of the risks they really faced.

Four people died and more than 30 were injured when the GNER train from London to Leeds derailed near Hatfield, just 17 miles into its journey on October 17, 2000.

More and more of the assertions that are made about health are not made by those concerned about health, like doctors

Professor Sir Colin Berry

Professor Berry said people who then decided to travel by road instead of rail actually increased their risk of having an accident.

"It's almost certain that killed more people. The death rate on the road per billion person miles travelled is about 12 times that of the railway."

Measles risk

He said the reluctance of some parents to give their children the combined MMR jab increased the risk of a measles outbreak, which people did not seem to appreciate.

Professor Berry said the fear the vaccine was linked to autism was "dangerously irrational" because people failed to take into consideration the risk to their children of developing measles, which can be fatal.

He said he feared it would take an outbreak of measles to demonstrate the risks of not having the MMR vaccination.

Much of the problem, he said, was down to people's attitudes.

"People no longer trust experts.

"More and more of the assertions that are made about health are not made by those concerned about health like doctors.

"If you want to distrust the experts and make up your own mind, that's fine, but you've got to bear the consequences."

Understanding

Professor Berry said the media had a lot of influence.

"The media report the research, but do not have the necessary training to evaluate it."

Professor Dr Luc Hens, from Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium said scientists should explain their findings better to the general public to improve their understanding of the risks involved in certain treatments, or exposure to particular substances.

But he said people wrongly expected concrete conclusions from scientists. "The public should be prepared to accept this uncertainty."