Calls for government to deny visa to US anti-vaccine activist

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Pro-vaccine activists are urging the government to deny a visa to a prominent US anti-vaccine campaigner who is set to tour Australia. A social media campaign is underway to stop Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, a US osteopath and author of Saying No to Vaccines, from participating in a series of lectures across Australia in March. American anti-vaccine activist Norma Erickson, and Australian homoeopathic practitioner, Dr Isaac Golden, are to join Tenpenny during the appearances. The events are being hosted by the Gan Kim Man Foundation, an unregistered organisation, using the names of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela. It’s believed the lectures, called “Raising Healthy Children Naturally”, were organised by Stephanie Messenger, an Australian anti-vaccine campaigner. Pro-vaccine campaigners are outraged by the tour and have called on the government to take action. Members of Stop the Australian (Anti) Vaccination Network have contacted state and federal health ministers, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, and several of the venues hosting the events. “The end result of her tour is that some well-meaning parents will be conned,” Stop the AVN’s Ken McLeod said. “The end result is misery, and extra stress on the health department budgets, and occasionally death. “We are alarmed and we are calling on the Immigration Minister to take up on her duty to protect the Australian public.”