Governmental Initiative on Vaccination

The Government of Romania has passed a bill providing for the compulsory vaccination of children.

Mihai Pelin, 10.08.2017, 12:33

Child immunisation will be mandatory in Romania, under a bill passed by the Government and scheduled for endorsement in Parliament, so as to take effect on January 1st, 2018. The parents or legal guardians are responsible for taking the children for vaccination. The vaccine consent is the default option, therefore parents will have to notify in writing if they opt out.

The bill also provides for the setup of a technical vaccination coordination group within the Healthcare Ministry, which is also to draw up a national strategy in this respect. Also, vaccination commissions will be established in each county and in Bucharest, to monitor the process. A reserve stock of vaccine shots will also be available for emergency situations, the bill also reads.

The Health Minister, Florian Bodog, presented fresh data on child immunisation:

Florian Bodog: “This past month 67,000 children have been vaccinated, and around 43,000 could not be found at home, on the one hand because it is holiday season, and on the other hand because a lot of children live abroad. But we will try again to reach them. We have a 12% vaccine refusal rate.

Under the law, when children are enrolled to kindergarten or school, the institution has to request a medical certificate issued by the family doctor and confirming whether a particular child has been given the compulsory vaccines or not. The mandatory vaccines include the ones against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, hepatitis B, mumps, and rubella.

A lot of parents refuse vaccination at present, due to fears concerning possible side-effects on their children, induced by some mass media. Acting as a public service institution, Radio Romania has joined in the efforts to inform parents on the benefits of vaccination and has conducted a campaign warning against the dangers facing the children whose parents refuse vaccines, keeping in mind that some 180,000 kids are not vaccinated against measles at present.

Romania is facing the worst measles epidemic of the past few years. More than 30 people died since September, when the epidemic broke out, and several thousand cases have been reported so far.

(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)