The number of refusals to vaccinate increases every year. This decision is probably influenced by the thriving anti-vaccine movement. This has also resulted in an increasing number of recorded measles cases. A record of cases was broken last year.
In 2018, over 40 people withdrew from preventive vaccinations. It’s about 10. more than a year ago. And 10 times as much as in 2010. The increase in refusals has not been without consequences. Measles flooded Poland as a result of vaccination avoidance. Last year, a record of cases was broken – 339 cases. Unfortunately, there are many indications that it can be even worse. According to DGP, 200 cases of measles have been recorded since the beginning of the year. It is worth adding that in 2017, 63 people fell ill. The difference is huge and very disturbing.
Fortunately, the rate of increase in denials is slowly slowing down. Perhaps this is the effect of the increasing prevalence of this disease in Poland. Some people change their minds out of fear of the epidemic, and in the face of the threat, however, decide to vaccinate. However, the head of the Pomeranian Sanitary and Epidemiological Station, Tomasz Augustyniak, notices that people get vaccinated only for a few diseases about which it is the loudest. «Patients, for example, come to get vaccinated only for measles, rubella and mumps. But not for other infectious diseases. Therefore, there has been no increase in awareness of why vaccinations are worthwhile »- she notes. He also admits that we need new legal solutions.
Experts believe that changes to the enforcement of vaccination enforcement would help. Currently, it is punishable by a fine of PLN 100. up to 5 zloty. «Only a specific bogeyman will be able to successfully vaccinate. An example may be grass-roots initiatives, such as the one assuming a refusal to admit a child to a kindergarten or nursery, under which signatures are now collected – says Jan Bondar, a GIS spokesman. There was also a proposal to abandon the vaccination obligation, but introduce the obligation to insure third party liability insurance for the unvaccinated. It would cover the costs of compensation for those who have been infected.
(based on: gazetaprawna.pl)
Also read: There will be no penalties for parents who do not vaccinate their children