The Vaccination Bill under Public Scrutiny
The Romanian healthcare ministry has published a draft of its new vaccination law amid heated debates and a measles epidemic
Florentin Căpitănescu, 12.04.2017, 13:30
The Healthcare Ministrys proposed vaccination bill is available for public input as of Tuesday. Under the new bill, when entering their children into nurseries and schools, parents must produce proof that the children were given the compulsory vaccines. Otherwise, parents are obliged to present a vaccination schedule within the next 60 days or a doctors note stating the medical side effects of certain vaccines. Nurseries and schools must request a note from the family doctor that children received compulsory vaccination and must not allow children who have not been vaccinated to attend classes during an epidemic confirmed by the Public Health Directorate.
A vaccination commission is also to be created in each county to identify the children who have not received their vaccines, provide counselling to parents and establish a vaccination schedule. In the case of 3-year-olds who have not received their compulsory vaccination, the commissions will inform the relevant institutions to establish the offence of child maltreatment by parents.
Although the version of the bill proposed by the health ministry does not contain penalties for parents, this will change, says healthcare minister Florian Bodog:
“The bill available for public input does not contain penalties, but we all know that for a law to be applied and have an effect, penalties are also needed. These penalties will be formulated after public consultation and discussions within the health committees in the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.”
A new vaccination law is welcome, given the current measles epidemic that broke out last autumn. More than 4,000 people have contracted the disease and over 20 have died as a result. An advisor to the healthcare minister, Alexandru Rafila has emphasised how important it is to vaccinate children against measles:
“Why did all these people get sick? Because the measles virus has been spreading among children aged between 1 and 5 who have not received vaccination. This also poses a risk for children under 1, who are not protected by vaccination.”
To increase vaccination rates, experts recommend measures such as a constant supply of all types of vaccines, penalising the persons guilty of unjustified delays in the provision of vaccines and organising public information campaigns.
