The World Health Organisation (WHO) has responded to remarks made by President Donald Trump in Washington, suggesting that paracetamol use in pregnancy may cause autism.
Spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic stated that while some observational studies have raised questions, many others have found no such link, and the evidence overall remains inconsistent.
If there were a strong connection, he said, it would have been seen consistently across multiple studies.
Jasarevic, in a statement on Tuesday, said that medicines in pregnancy should always be used cautiously and under medical supervision, particularly in the first trimester.
Speaking in Geneva in response to journalists’ questions, the WHO spokesperson also rejected suggestions that routine childhood vaccines cause autism, noting that WHO’s immunisation schedules are based on decades of evidence and have saved more than 150 million lives over the past 50 years.
In a related development, Kate O’Brien, Director of the Department of Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals at WHO, assured that vaccines are powerful tools in public health.
The director attributed the success to global vaccination efforts, noting that over 18 million people who would have been paralysed by polio can walk.
She further said that over 90 million children who would have died from measles are alive, and more than a million deaths now and in the years to come from cervical cancer have already been averted.
