School children in Italy are now required by law to receive 12 mandatory vaccinations before they are allowed to enrol for state-run schools.
Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children by the age of six will be fined by authorities in an attempt to deter them from what Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni claims are “anti-vaccination conspiracy theories.”
BBC News reports: Conspiracy theories about the health risks of certain vaccinations – largely based on one discredited paper – have circulated around the world, leading some parents to shun immunisation.
BYPASS THE CENSORS
Sign up to get unfiltered news delivered straight to your inbox.
You can unsubscribe any time. By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use
In Italy, the number of two-year-olds vaccinated against measles has dropped from more than 90% to below 80%. This is well short of the World Health Organization’s recommended coverage of 95% or more.
Measles is highly contagious and can lead to death.
“The lack of appropriate measures over the years and the spread of anti-scientific theories, especially in recent months, has brought about a reduction in protection,” Mr Gentiloni told a press conference on Friday.
The twelve conditions children must be immunised against are:
- polio
- diphtheria
- tetanus
- hepatitis B
- haemophilus influenzae B
- meningitis B
- meningitis C
- measles
- mumps
- rubella
- whooping cough
- chickenpox
“We are sending a very strong message to the public,” said Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin.
In recent years a loose group of campaigners against vaccinations, dubbed the ‘anti-vax’ movement, has dissuaded people from opting in to immunisations by citing supposed risks.
A long-discredited paper by Andrew Wakefield was behind much of the scare but the rumours around immunisation have continued to spread, leading to public health risks as not enough people are immune to such diseases.
Mr Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register after fraudulently claiming there was a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism and bowel disease in children.
He made the claim based on the experiences of just 12 children, and no other study since has been able to replicate his results.
