Promoters of the controversial film 'Vaxxed' are about to screen the movie around the country. Riley Hughes' parents found a genius way to protest the film and save lives at the same time.

The parents of Riley Hughes, Catherine and Greg, have come up with a genius way to protest the controversial film Vaxxed, which will begin screening in secret locations around the country this week.

Riley Hughes was just three-weeks-old when he began to display symptoms of whooping cough, he was only 32 days old when the disease tragically ended his short life.

Since that awful day, Catherine and Greg have campaigned tirelessly to bring awareness of the importance of the maternal pertussis vaccine in the third trimester of pregnancy, and for vaccination in general through their page, Light for Riley and through the Immunisation Foundation of Australia.

The fight has not been easy

While it might seem impossible to imagine, Riley's parents say they began receiving threats and accusations from anti-vaccination campaigners almost immediately.

"The fact that we spoke about his death angered many anti-vaccination activists, who would have preferred we remained silent," Riley's mum Catherine wrote in a long and distressing post online.

"The number of messages telling us to shut up, or accusing us of being on the payroll of 'big pharma', began a day after his death and are now well into their thousands."

"The worst we’ve been accused of is that we were paid off by pharmaceutical companies to murder our son, claim it was whooping cough and somehow get all the doctors and hospital staff on board with it, ultimately as a way to lift vaccines sales."

Just a few of the nasty messages written about the family. Picture: Reasonable Hank.

A film with a controversial message

Despite the attacks, Catherine and Greg have always risen above it and kept on going. They have always found a way to bring a positive out of a negative situation and today is no exception.

News hit that US promoters of the controversial film Vaxxed have arrived in Australia ahead of a series of secret screenings.

The film was directed by Andrew Wakefield. In 1998, Wakefield published a study linking the MMR vaccine to autism. The study was later found to be false and was retracted by The British journal Lancet whileThe British Medical Journal went so far as to call his research “fraudulent.” Wakefield was later stripped of his license to practice medicine in the UK.

Unfortunately, the damage was already done and vaccination rates fell as a result of the incorrect information in the study.

The controversial film that is about to screen around Australia. Source: Youtube.

Since then, hundreds of independent studies have found no link between vaccines and autism, including a 2015 study of more than 95,000 children. But that hasn't stopped Wakefield and others like him from maintaining their position.

Vaxxed claims to expose new evidence of a link discovered between vaccines and autism that they say was covered up by government.

While the makers of the film claim it is not anti-vaccine, it has been promoted all over the world by anti-vaccination groups, much to the distress of the medical community.

'When they go low, we go high'

After hearing the news of the US Vaxxed team's arrival, Riley's parents took to the Light For Riley Facebook page with a clever peaceful protest.

"In thoroughly disappointing news this morning, some of the most vocal anti-vaccine activists from the US Vaxxed tour have just arrived in Australia to promote their anti vaccine beliefs to the community," the couple wrote.

"Whilst this movie and these activists have been widely discredited, It's still concerning that they are able to come here and promote their dangerous beliefs.

"Feeling frustrated and knowing that their voice could potentially influence a small section of vulnerable parents we wanted to offset the damage caused by their arrival.

"So here's to you vaxxed team USA, we are donating 200 polio vaccines through UNICEF in your honour. That's 200 children protected from a serious vaccine preventable disease thanks to your arrival."

Picture: Light For Riley Facebook

The post has been shared hundreds of times and dozens of people are jumping on board and making their own gift of vaccines through UNICEF in honour of the anti-vaccine campaigners.

"We know that most parents are smart enough to ignore anti-vaccine propaganda films that have been widely discredited," Catherine told Kidspot.

"We know most people understand that real scientific discoveries are made not on camera but in research laboratories," she said.

"We do feel concern for those parents who get confused about vaccination and encourage them to chat to their GPs rather than these anti-vaccine activists who have arrived in Australia.

"We are amazed that thousands and thousands of vaccines have since been donated to UNICEF. We feel this really helps to off-set the damage caused by this 'anti-vaccine tour'. Hopefully our actions will speak louder than their words."

You can make your own donation to UNICEF to give the gift of life-saving vaccines in countries that need it most through the UNICEF website.

The Immunisation Foundation of Australia has lots of information on vaccine preventable illnesses as well as commonly asked questions about immunisation.