Since 2018, France has introduced mandatory vaccination of children from 11 common diseases

Since 2018, France has introduced mandatory vaccination of all children from 11 common diseases.

Government Plans

Currently, only three vaccines are required in France - from tetanus, diphtheria and poliomyelitis. The government plans to expand the plan, including eight more vaccines: measles, rubella, hepatitis B, influenza, pertussis, mumps, pneumonia and meningitis C.

These plans were announced by the new Prime Minister of France during the parliamentary speech last Tuesday, reports Le Figaro.

Comment of the Minister of Health

In an interview for the French newspaper Le Parisien last month, French Health Minister Agnes Buzin said that the vaccination of children from 11 diseases will become mandatory due to the measles epidemic in the country. Between 2008 and 2016, more than 24,000 cases of measles (including 10 fatalities) were registered in France, despite the widespread availability of vaccines.

"Today only three vaccines for infants are mandatory. This creates a real problem for public health, "Buzin said. - Today in France again appears measles. We can not allow children to die from it: since 2008, we have already lost ten. Since the vaccine against this disease is recommended, not mandatory, the coverage rate is 75 percent, whereas to prevent the epidemic it should be 95 percent. The same problem exists with meningitis. "

Skeptical attitude

In May, the Italian government obliged all parents to vaccinate their children against 12 common diseases before they begin attending public schools.

A study last year in 67 countries that covered 65,819 people showed that France is the most skeptical country in the field of vaccine safety in the world. The survey showed that 41% of respondents in France do not agree with the statement that "vaccines are safe", compared to a global average of 13 percent.

What is the cause of mistrust of vaccines?

Concerns about the safety of vaccines are largely related to the fraudulent study of Andrew Wakefield, the results of which are published in the medical journal The Lancet in 1998. It showed that there is a link between the vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella and the occurrence of autism and bowel disease.

Wakefield was banned from medical practice in the UK after he was found guilty of serious professional misconduct. His article was officially removed from the magazine. Later, his editors explained that they did this because of a "fatal conflict of interests".