Outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases are on the rise according to the European Surveillance agency.
In the UK alone 1,000 children became ill after they were not given a measles vaccine between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. However, the highest numbers are reported in France with more than 2,500 cases, Germany with 2,000 and Italy, with 2,800.
So what’s behind one of the greatest public health crisis of the last century? Why Europeans do not trust vaccines? Have they lost faith in the health care institutions?
I spoke to Anca Paduraru, spokesperson of European Union Health Commission gives a general overview of the current situation in Europe:
“In terms of public health, there is nothing the European Commission can or cannot impose – every EU state member has its own power in determining public health policies. Our most recent report shows that 85% of Europeans believe in vaccination, but that 15% is still worrying.”
Fines for Anti-Vac Parents
In March 2019, Italy started to ban from school children under 5 years old who have not received a vaccination and for the older, every parent will receive a €500 fine. On May 12th, Germany adopted the same policy, but the fine will be € 2,500.
In both countries, many have demonstrated against this decision calling it ‘anti-democratic’. The Italian officials have promptly replied that it is for the greater ‘good’.
Emilie Karafillakis, a vaccination hesitancy researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and author of the Vaccine Confidence Project sponsored by the European Union believes this is an important step in the right direction:
“If you look at it this way, having fines for children in schools that are not vaccinated, it can be helpful to prevent outbreaks because when you have a certain number of people who are refusing vaccination you lose what we call herd immunity. It is basically the level that you need of vaccination to stop a disease from spreading.”
Hiba Ferrara, from Brussels, hopes that this policy will soon come to Belgium.
“My child recovered from Leukaemia at the age of 7 and he wasn’t allowed to go back to school because one of his friends was not vaccinated. After a 2-years nightmare, we had to change school, we had to start all over again. It wasn’t fair on us and the government couldn’t do anything! When I hear some countries imposing fines, I agree with that!”
A Vocal Opposition
People who are against vaccination are not afraid to speak up. Probably more than people who firmly believe in vaccines. As the spokesperson of the EU commission said, it would need a new treaty to change what the EU can or cannot impose in terms of public health – leaving space to all kind of voices.
Antonietta Gatti is an Italian bioengineer who published several studies about the toxicity of vaccination. She was attacked by many members of the scientific community and by the institutions, including Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
“I can tell you that you cannot inject foreign bodies in the body, inside vaccines there are adjutants. These are non-active components that can cause autism, diplopia and death. Doctors want to vaccinate the population in order to avoid some diseases and when they see some side effects they don’t pay attention to them. They deny the normal physiology because it’s unpolitical.”
In Milan, Silvia Veraldi has two children of 12 and 5 years old. Her first one, Valeria, has autism. Silvia says that she was a happy child before her vaccination against diphtheria at the age of 3.
“She used to be a happy girl, after the vaccination she started suffering from child depression. We brought her to a childhood autism expert who asked us whether Valeria got a vaccine and stated that she wasn’t born with autism. We refuse to vaccinate our youngest, we will be fined, I know, but we lost something of Valeria we don’t want to risk losing in Paolo.”
It’s worth remembering that while getting vaccinated might seem like an individual choice, it has an impact on everyone else’s life. In Italy and Germany, politics has interfered with the natural course of science for what they say to be the greater good. But wouldn’t it be more helpful to improve the conversation between the two sides of the debate which doesn’t seem to be ending soon.
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Headline‘No Vax, No School’ – How Europe is dealing with the vaccination crisis
Short HeadlineCity Investigates: How is Europe fighting the biggest public health crisis of the last century?
StandfirstItaly and Germany are fining parents who don't want to vaccinate their children to fight infectious diseases outbreaks
Outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases are on the rise according to the European Surveillance agency.
In the UK alone 1,000 children became ill after they were not given a measles vaccine between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019. However, the highest numbers are reported in France with more than 2,500 cases, Germany with 2,000 and Italy, with 2,800.
So what’s behind one of the greatest public health crisis of the last century? Why Europeans do not trust vaccines? Have they lost faith in the health care institutions?
I spoke to Anca Paduraru, spokesperson of European Union Health Commission gives a general overview of the current situation in Europe:
“In terms of public health, there is nothing the European Commission can or cannot impose – every EU state member has its own power in determining public health policies. Our most recent report shows that 85% of Europeans believe in vaccination, but that 15% is still worrying.”
Fines for Anti-Vac Parents
In March 2019, Italy started to ban from school children under 5 years old who have not received a vaccination and for the older, every parent will receive a €500 fine. On May 12th, Germany adopted the same policy, but the fine will be € 2,500.
In both countries, many have demonstrated against this decision calling it ‘anti-democratic’. The Italian officials have promptly replied that it is for the greater ‘good’.
Emilie Karafillakis, a vaccination hesitancy researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and author of the Vaccine Confidence Project sponsored by the European Union believes this is an important step in the right direction:
“If you look at it this way, having fines for children in schools that are not vaccinated, it can be helpful to prevent outbreaks because when you have a certain number of people who are refusing vaccination you lose what we call herd immunity. It is basically the level that you need of vaccination to stop a disease from spreading.”
Hiba Ferrara, from Brussels, hopes that this policy will soon come to Belgium.
“My child recovered from Leukaemia at the age of 7 and he wasn’t allowed to go back to school because one of his friends was not vaccinated. After a 2-years nightmare, we had to change school, we had to start all over again. It wasn’t fair on us and the government couldn’t do anything! When I hear some countries imposing fines, I agree with that!”
A Vocal Opposition
People who are against vaccination are not afraid to speak up. Probably more than people who firmly believe in vaccines. As the spokesperson of the EU commission said, it would need a new treaty to change what the EU can or cannot impose in terms of public health – leaving space to all kind of voices.
Antonietta Gatti is an Italian bioengineer who published several studies about the toxicity of vaccination. She was attacked by many members of the scientific community and by the institutions, including Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
“I can tell you that you cannot inject foreign bodies in the body, inside vaccines there are adjutants. These are non-active components that can cause autism, diplopia and death. Doctors want to vaccinate the population in order to avoid some diseases and when they see some side effects they don’t pay attention to them. They deny the normal physiology because it’s unpolitical.”
In Milan, Silvia Veraldi has two children of 12 and 5 years old. Her first one, Valeria, has autism. Silvia says that she was a happy child before her vaccination against diphtheria at the age of 3.
“She used to be a happy girl, after the vaccination she started suffering from child depression. We brought her to a childhood autism expert who asked us whether Valeria got a vaccine and stated that she wasn’t born with autism. We refuse to vaccinate our youngest, we will be fined, I know, but we lost something of Valeria we don’t want to risk losing in Paolo.”
It’s worth remembering that while getting vaccinated might seem like an individual choice, it has an impact on everyone else’s life. In Italy and Germany, politics has interfered with the natural course of science for what they say to be the greater good. But wouldn’t it be more helpful to improve the conversation between the two sides of the debate which doesn’t seem to be ending soon.
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