India, Dec. 9 -- A well-known personality's post on social media, questioning the use of vaccines and urging parents to avoid vaccinating children to reduce risks of autism, has stirred up controversy. While medical professionals have criticised the comment, he has stood his ground. It is sufficient to say that current evidence does not support his claim.

However, vaccines are often a target for such controversies. Let us start with some non-controversial statements on vaccines that, hopefully, everybody will agree to.

Vaccines have been incredibly useful in preventing deaths from infections, especially in children. This has been a major public health gain of the last century. We can't afford to not have this weapon in our arsenal. Most...