Ethical issues in immunisation

Mandatory and recommended vaccination in the EU, Iceland and Norway: results of the VENICE 2010 survey on the ways of implementing national vaccination programmes

“…This information was not collected in this survey because it is difficult to evaluate the national context and differences could exist in different regions of each country. Opinions on recommended or mandatory vaccinations are divided, because several ethical issues are related to the subject [11,12]. Furthermore, at first sight there seems to be no striking difference in vaccination coverage between countries that only recommend certain vaccinations and countries that oblige them [1,12], although from studies it is known that making influenza vaccination mandatory for healthcare workers can increase the vaccination coverage rates in this particular group [13].…”

Ethical considerations for vaccination programmes in acute humanitarian emergencies

“…Those whose liberty is violated should, when appropriate, be compensated, particularly if they experience vaccine-associated side-effects. 37,38 In addition, individual rights should be restricted only with utmost respect for the dignity of persons.…”

Should Childhood Vaccination be Compulsory in the UK?

“…If there is a risk of significant harm to a child by withholding effective preventative treatment in the form of immunisation, compelling parents to allow the child to be vaccinated is ethically justifiable. For example, a child bitten by a rabid animal risks almost certain death if they do not receive rabies immunisation (Bradley 1999;Isaacs 2009). …”

“…Both are usually protective, and can rarely cause children severe harm (Isaacs et al 2009) Compulsory vaccination does appear to be the obvious solution to the problem of undervaccination, but such a policy would give rise to another collection of problems, both ethical and practical ).…”

“…The UK has a long history of opposition to vaccination (Spier 2002;Salmon and Omer 2006;Isaacs 2009), but this has been exacerbated in recent years by a gradual erosion of trust not only in the government's scientific advice (Horton 2004), but also in doctors and the medical establishment in general , fuelled by media reporting on vaccination safety (Goldacre 2008). …”