The meeting of the National Board of Immunization was called after the death of an unvaccinated child who contracted diphtheria. Proposals for improving the implementation of the vaccination and immunization policy were discussed at the meeting.
The participants of the session informed that they discussed disinformation about measures to reduce vaccinations, as well as legal proposals on how to apply responsibility to parents in case of non-vaccination of the child.
The minister reiterated that one of the solutions is to strictly monitor the flow of disinformation related to vaccination. The Ministry of Health (MOH) plans to send a submission to the security services with a request for stricter monitoring of disinformation in order to strengthen public health and safety issues.
Yuriy Perevoshchikov, Director of the Department of Infectious Disease Risk Analysis and Prevention of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control, stated that most often disinformation messages falsely claim that vaccination is a way for the state to control the population. He sees informational campaigns by the media and health institutions as the most effective solution to combating misinformation.
Dace Zavadska, professor of the Department of Pediatrics at Riga Stradins University, agreed with what was said, stressing that it is important to talk to those involved in various fields and think about children in dispelling misinformation. Everything must be done to limit the fact that another child could be deprived of the right to life due to the parents’ actions, the doctor said.
She welcomed the information collected by the Ombudsman about several legal tools that have not been widely applied in practice so far, but could improve the coverage of childhood vaccinations.
Abu Meri added that in connection with unvaccinated children, it is important to think about what kind of legal responsibility to apply directly to the parents. In this matter, it is necessary to cooperate with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and lawyers, but fines and prison sentences will hardly be effective in this situation, the minister reasoned. As for the specific case of the child’s death, Zavadska admitted that his parents had already received “the highest applicable punishment” for the loss of the child.
If it is not mandatory to vaccinate a child, then there can be no talk of responsibility, but what the parents’ responsibility towards the child means is a broad and complicated issue, continued Abu Meri. In his opinion, basic vaccines should be mandatory, and the practices of Germany and the Czech Republic should be followed in this matter. The rest of the meeting participants also agreed to this.
Abu Meri considered that the situation when parents are completely opposed to vaccination is especially risky. This topic is very sensitive, so the solutions should also be carefully evaluated. If parents of unvaccinated children are paid for medical expenses at the hospital, there is a risk that they will not take their sick children to the hospital at all, the minister assessed as one of the solutions.
As Perevoshchikov pointed out, people after the age of 18 can receive vaccines that they did not receive in childhood, but not all of them are appropriate and effective for adults. Diphtheria and tetanus vaccines are also active if they are received after the age of 18, whereas the vaccine against Hib infection is specific for young children. Because this vaccine has an age limit, receiving it later makes it no longer relevant. Therefore, it is important to get age-appropriate vaccines on time.
Normatively, the receipt of approximately five childhood vaccines after the age of 18 could be strengthened, but, in Perevoshchikov’s opinion, the demand for them would be small.
2024-09-22 01:06:12