Pediatricians fight to make vaccination of children universal and we have a free vaccination schedule, but there is no legal obligation to comply nor is it a requirement for schooling, with the possibilities of contagion that this implies.
The judges are giving the reason to the centers that reject unvaccinated children. After the decision of a Court of Barcelona in favor of a municipal nursery school that refused to admit a child who was not vaccinated and the news that the vaccination card is a document required in the school fees of some autonomous communities, we have decided to investigate on what our law says and what is being done about it in other countries.
So we reflect with data and laws if the child should be required to have his vaccination card up to date to enter a nursery school. What do you think?
In Babies and more Do not put your child's life and that of other children at risk: seven reasons for mandatory vaccination to go to daycareSpain: vaccination is not mandatory by law
The importance of vaccination is beyond doubt. Vaccines immunize children in more than 90 percent of diseases, a figure that reaches almost 100 percent, in the case of babies.
But in our country there is no regulation that requires vaccination, nor that this is not an essential requirement to be able to educate a child, as is already being done in other countries around us.
In fact, we can say that we stand on this issue, since there are no fines or laws. Should something be done? Could you force yourself to vaccinate?
The approach can be complicated if the parents claim "freedom" or "The principle of autonomy", on which the anti-vaccine movements are based, which redirect the Spanish Constitution and our laws to defend that vaccination can only be mandatory when there is an imminent and extraordinary public health danger, something that has to be ruled by a Court.
Organic Law 3/1986, of April 14, on Special Measures in Public Health, in Article 2 says:
"The authorities may take any type of measures to preserve public health, with the only requirement that there are rational indications that it is in danger. Any measures are allowed (not specified) in cases of epidemics or borderline situations ".
The General Health Law of 1986, which in its article Art. 10.9, establishes that people have the right:
"To refuse treatment, except when it poses a risk to public health, you are not qualified to make decisions (in that case it corresponds to family members or close friends) or when the urgency does not allow delays for being able to cause irreversible injuries or danger of death ".
It is clear that this is such a complex issue, that even the Vaccine Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) explains in detail all the regulations regarding the obligatory nature of vaccines and in what cases it can be requested from the courts.
But it is clear that it is legally possible to protect all children while respecting freedom, because in other countries the obligation to be vaccinated to enter daycare centers is recognized by law.
Without vaccines there are no nurseries, in some communities
It is clear that the requirement to include the vaccination card as a requirement to enroll a child is a good way to know if there is universal immunization in the classes.
But today, presenting it is not a legal obligation, although some autonomous communities are taking initiatives in that direction.
The Xunta de Galicia She studies not admitting children to her nurseries without vaccinating. If the decision to do so is finally made, it will be applied from the next course to children from zero to three years who are not up to date with the official vaccination schedule.
In Babies and more Vaccine calendar 2019: these are the noveltiesCastilla and León. The Autonomous Order that regulates the admission process in this Community, establishes that the parents of children under three years of age who want to access a public nursery school must provide the vaccination card to enroll.
The document has an informative purpose although it is left to the center to admit a minor who has not received all the vaccines included in the official calendar. In the case of private centers, there is no regulation in this regard and the center can act as it sees fit.
Estremadura It is, together with Castilla y León, the only communities that require having all doses of the vaccine calendar up to date as a mandatory requirement to enroll a child in a public nursery school.
In Babies and more Dutch teenagers can get vaccinated if their parents did not immunize them when they were childrenGeneralitat of Catalunya. As part of the documentation for the application for pre-registration and to formalize the enrollment of children from 3 to 12 years, parents must also present the vaccination card.
If a primer is not available or the child has not been vaccinated by medical indication, an official medical certificate must be presented.
There are other communities such as Valencia, Navarra and the Canary Islands that include presenting the vaccination card for children as a requirement to access nursery schools, although they only do it for informational purposes.
The rest of the Communities do not contemplate in their regulations to request the vaccination card as a requirement for the enrollment of children in the nursery, although each center can request it from the parents if they consider it convenient.
The example of other countries
Compulsory vaccination is a very controversial issue worldwide, and more recently with the regrowth of childhood diseases that were believed to be extinct, thanks to immunization.
In Babies and more WHO warns of the increase in measles cases worldwide due to a drop in vaccinationLuckily in Spain the vaccination rates are excellent, although there are neighboring countries that have had to take action on the matter to curb the reduction of the vaccination rate, largely due to the rise in anti-vaccine movements.
Some European countries, however, have decided to advocate compulsory vaccination as an indispensable requirement for schooling children in public centers.
France. As of January 1, 2018, children born in France must be vaccinated to be able to access nurseries and schools. It was a measure imposed on the large number of children affected by measles or chickenpox.
Italy. This European country also imposed ten compulsory vaccines to access nursery schools, in the 2017-2018 academic year against different measles outbreaks, although last summer, with the change of government, it backed down.
Holland. He is studying the imposition of vaccination if the child wants to go to public nurseries, since only 90 percent of Dutch children under two are vaccinated. And, according to WHO, 95 percent is required to ensure immunity of group.
In other European countries, according to the AEP Vaccine Committee, there are at least 11 countries with at least one mandatory childhood vaccine funded by the health system of the corresponding country. Among them is France, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary Poland, Slovakia, Greece and the Czech Republic.
But also outside our continent, some countries are concerned about the reduction of mandatory vaccination in children and the health risks that this reality can cause.
- Australia: Two years ago the Australian authorities decided to prohibit the entry to daycare centers of unvaccinated babies, in addition to financial fines and the withdrawal of tax benefits to parents who do not vaccinate their children.
Vaccination figures in Spain exceed 97 percent, so we talk about universal immunization.
For that reason, our pediatricians they continue to struggle to raise awareness of the importance of vaccines for the health of our children and their peers, but they are not in favor of forcing the vaccination calendar and, therefore, at least for the moment, they do not defend that schools prohibit the entry of a child to a daycare center if they are not vaccinated.
Photos | iStock
In Babies and More | WHO lists the anti-vaccine movement as one of the 10 threats to global health in 2019, //www.bebesymas.com/noticias/movimientos-antivacunas-principal-causa-brote-sarampion-europa-expertos
