Parents in Italy face a 500 euro fine, and Australia cuts off financial support to families who fail to vaccinate their children.
Low vaccination rates can lead to disease outbreaks, affecting communities, including children. To prevent disease, many countries have implemented regulations and penalties for unvaccinated individuals.
In September, Sindh province (Pakistan) passed a law punishing parents who fail to vaccinate their children against polio. The maximum penalty can be up to one month in prison and a fine of 50,000 Pakistani rupees (approximately 4 million VND). This is the first law in the country related to vaccination, introduced amidst ongoing cases of wild polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Italy enacted a law mandating vaccinations for children under 6 years old in 2019, following a surge in measles cases since March of that year. Parents with children aged 6-16 must provide proof of vaccination against polio, measles, chickenpox, rubella, and mumps before school enrollment.
Failure to comply may result in a 500 euro (equivalent to over 12 million VND) fine for parents. Children under 6 years old who have not been vaccinated will be banned from preschool.
As a result, 300 children were suspended from school for not being vaccinated. The vaccination rate subsequently reached 95% in the under-5 age group, equivalent to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation.
Many countries are implementing penalties to increase vaccination rates and prevent disease outbreaks. Photo: Pexcel
In 2015, Australia implemented a "no jab, no pay" policy. The government would waive childcare subsidies or year-end income tax breaks for families with unvaccinated children. The estimated cost could be over US$9,600 per year for a couple (equivalent to over 200 million VND).
Authorities also fined schools that enrolled unvaccinated children. The fines amounted to approximately $24,000, equivalent to over 580 million VND.
Two years after the "no jab, no pay" policy was implemented, the vaccination rate for the diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus booster shot in the 5-6 age group increased from 9.4% to 15.5%. The vaccination rate in the 10-19 age group increased from 86.6% to 89%.
In France, since 2018, eight additional vaccines have become mandatory for young children: pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, influenza, pneumonia, and meningococcal meningitis, alongside the diphtheria, tetanus, and polio vaccines. Parents can face imprisonment for failing to vaccinate their children.
Vietnam has Circular 38/2017 of the Ministry of Health , which stipulates that 10 vaccines are included in the mandatory immunization schedule of the Expanded Immunization Program (EIP), including: Hepatitis B, Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Hib disease, Measles, Japanese Encephalitis, and Rubella.
According to Article 9 of Government Decree No. 117 of 2020, the act of failing to administer or obstructing the use of mandatory vaccines and medical biological products for children and pregnant women is punishable by a warning or a fine of VND 300,000 to VND 500,000; an administrative fine of VND 1-3 million is imposed for the act of failing to vaccinate or obstructing vaccination in cases where there is a risk of infectious disease in an epidemic area.
Vaccination protects people's health. Photo: Tuyet Huynh
Dr. Bach Thi Chinh, Medical Director of the VNVC Vaccination System, stated that the mandatory vaccination program in Vietnam helped eradicate polio in 2000, neonatal tetanus in 2005, and many other infectious diseases.
"If many people are not vaccinated, the disease can continue to circulate, break out, and spread to those who do not have immunity, for example, young children who are not old enough to be vaccinated or people who have contraindications to vaccination," said Dr. Chinh.
Dr. Chinh stated that vaccination is lifelong. To protect the health of the entire community, adults should also be vaccinated, with a focus on high-risk groups who are more susceptible to illness and severe complications, including pregnant women, the elderly, and those with underlying health conditions.
Nhat Linh
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