Background and Objectives: Despite the fact that vaccines save many lives worldwide, in many countries, including Poland, the percentage of unvaccinated children is constantly growing. The main reasons for low immunisation coverage include parents' concerns about the safety of vaccines, their fears related to possible adverse events following vaccination, and the increasingly powerful activity of anti-vaccine movements. It is necessary to monitor the public's attitudes to vaccination in order to implement appropriate solutions to prevent a resurgence of epidemics. The aim of the study was to assess Polish parents' opinions about and awareness of immunisation-related issues. Methods: The study, based on an online survey, investigated Polish mothers' attitudes towards the use of vaccines, their opinions regarding the sanctions for a failure to vaccinate a child, and the correlations between the result and the socio-demographic characteristics. Results: A total of 646 responses were collected, including 593 from mothers from generalinterest groups and 53 from anti-vax groups. Differences were identified in vaccination coverage among children of respondents from general-interest groups and anti-vax groups. The findings show that the respondents from anti-vax groups stopped vaccinating more often due to vaccine adverse events and inadequate response from doctors. Conclusion: Most of the respondents are aware of anti-vaccine movements and have a negative attitude to them, but these movements still influence the public. Also, the findings show a correlation between the level of education and a general attitude to immunisationpeople with higher education more often have a negative opinion on this matter.

Aim Relations between penal responsibility and vaccination obligation can be essential for raising the vaccination rate. Social media play a vital role in distributing information. The attitude towards vaccination consists of many factors, including the criminal law situation in the field of vaccination in a given country. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of criminal law liability and other social factors such as age and education on mothers’ desire to vaccinate their children. Methods Survey target: mothers from nine European countries (Poland, Germany, Slovakia, France, Norway, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Italy). Response count: 2205. Questionnaire content: adjusted to country-specific legal regulations concerning vaccinations - considering whether vaccines are mandatory, recommended, additional, and how to cover costs. The way of dissemination of the questionnaire: general parental groups on Facebook. Results The respondents: Poles (30%), Italians, Germans, Slovaks, Greeks (10% each), Norwegians, Frenchwomen, Romanians, Serbians (5% each). The average respondent age: highest: Norway (38.14±10.08) and Italy (37.35±8.12), lowest: Slovakia (30.22±6.19). Respondents with higher, secondary, vocational, primary education represent 58%, 27%, 12%, 3%, respectively, of the group. Countries with above 90% rate of answers that they vaccinate their children: Greece, Norway, Slovakia, France. The lowest rate (55%) recorded for Romania. Sixty-seven percent aware of the existence of anti-vaccination movements. High rates were recorded for Norway (88%), Romania (82%), Poland (78%), Serbia (71%), Greece (67%), Germany (66%). The lowest rate for France (31%). Countries without vaccination at all (Germany, Norway, Romania, Greece), the rest of the countries mentioned above – have some mandatory, recommended and additional vaccinations. Conclusion In countries with mandatory vaccinations parents have their children vaccinated less willingly than in countries with voluntary vaccinations. The rising level of education and providing information about complications following infectious diseases appear to increase the vaccination rate.

Aim: Stigmatization is about making a division – people are grouped into better and worse, people with mental disorders are very often perceived as different, which is why they are largely stigmatized. Mental illnesses are a growing problem among the society of developed countries, therefore, the problem of stigmatization of these people has also become noticeable, which may adversely affect their mental condition and the convalescence process. The aim of the study is to assess the degree of stigmatization of mentally ill people by paramedics. Material and methods: An original questionnaire was used to collect the data, distributed from February 15, 2020 to April 7, 2020. among paramedics working in various medical rescue units and in units cooperating with the National Medical Rescue system. We collected 91 respondents replied. The research was a pilot study. Results: Paramedics are a professional group that does not show any particular signs of stigmatization in relation to the mentally ill, but single responses were obtained, which may indicate a given respondent’s lack of understanding for the mentally ill. Conclusions: In order to prevent stigmatization of the mentally ill, it is very important to educate not only paramedics, but also representatives of other medical professions who have contact with people suffering from mental disorders.

The use of OTC drugs is very popular in Poland. However, not many people realise what dangers stem from the inappropriate use of those medications. One of the most prominent abuse of OTC drugs is improper dosage, which may cause negative side effects leading to the deterioration of the patient’s health. A potential solution to this problem is the imposition of restrictions on the availability of OTC drugs, which could raise the awareness of the buyers. The people surveyed have been grouped on the basis of gender, age, education and place of living. The results of the survey show which OTC drugs are most frequently bought, where those drugs are bought and what the most frequent reasons for taking painkillers are. Moreover, more detailed data (taking into account the gender, the age, the education and the place of living of the respondents) has been gathered in regard to reading the package leaflets of the drugs, combining drugs and understanding the hazards of doing so. The interviewees have also expressed their opinions on the use of the new substitutes for OTC drugs and the prospective selling restriction of OTC drugs proposed by the Ministry of Health. Thanks to the information obtained, a general idea of the level of Poles’ knowledge about over-the-counter drugs can be formed. The study has shown that: Ibuprom, APAP and Paracetamol are the most popular OTC drugs. Stemming from this tendency is the frequent overdose of one of the active substances paracetamol. As far as the selling restriction plan of the Ministry of Health is concerned, the negative attitude towards it results from the fear of not being able to get the medications quickly, all the while restraining the spread of the substitutes. Finally, the issue of recurring side effects remains the matter of not reading the package leaflets of the drugs before use.