VACCINATE ULTIMATUM

School plan to demand proof of immunisation

PARENTS will have to provide proof of their child’s immunisation status to enrol them at school and children will be sent for catch-up jabs if they are not fully vaccinated.

Under a new national plan to lift immunisation rates, parents will also be warned if local rates are too low to provide herd immunity from infectious diseases.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek will ask state health ministers to sign up to the policy today in Sydney.

It comes two months after Kuranda was identified as one of three areas in Australia with immunisation rates low enough to be considered at greater risk of deadly diseases. The measles immunisation rate for oneyear-olds in Kuranda is 85 per cent.

The World Health Organisation guidelines say immunisation rates for measles need to be higher than 93 per cent to prevent it from spreading.

Five states (NSW, Victoria, ACT, Tasmania and West Australia) already have legislation requiring immunisation checks on school enrolment but they are poorly implemented and none require children to be sent for catch-up jabs.

‘‘ We’ve got to make sure schools are using that information to follow up,’’ Ms Plibersek said.

There will be no attempt to ban unvaccinated children from school and parents who refuse to vaccinate their children will not have to provide an exemption form.

‘‘I don’t think it is right to punish children for the decision their parents have made,’’ she said.

‘‘Denying children an education is not a sensible thing to do.’’

But children of vaccine refusers will be sent home from school if there is a disease outbreak to protect them from getting sick. Only about 1.5 per cent of children weren’t immunised because their parents objected to vaccination; most were unvaccinated because their parents forgot, she said.

Forgetful parents were likely to get their children vaccinated if reminded about i t on school enrolment.

One option that will be discussed today is having vaccination nurses on site at schools to deliver catch- up jabs during enrolment week, Ms Plibersek said.

Medicare locals would be asked to co-ordinate the delivery of these catch-up jabs.

The plan will target five- year- olds because recent national data shows that in 2012 immunisation rates were lowest of all among children in this age group.

While on average 92 per cent of two-yearolds are vaccinated this falls to 90 per cent at age five. WHO says immunisation rates of 92 per cent are needed to stop disease outbreaks.