VACCINATION CHECKPOINT
MDs aim to quell concerns
Every elementary and high school in the country should require parents to provide proof their child has received up-to-date immunizations for school entry, Canada’s doctors say.
But in a move that could fuel the anti-vaccination movement, delegates to the Canadian Medical Association’s annual general council meeting Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a call for a national program to compensate those who suffer the extremely rare injuries that can be caused by vaccines.
That proposal was among a raft of motions aimed at combating “vaccine hesitancy,” a growing phenomenon public health experts fear is driving immunization rates for key diseases below target in many regions of the country.
A critical resolution calls for governments to authorize schools to require parents show proof of vaccination. Those whose children have been “inadequately vaccinated” would be required to meet with public health officials to discuss why.
The proposal doesn’t call for mandatory vaccinations, CMA president Dr. Cindy Forbes stressed. The goal, said Forbes, a Halifax family doctor, is to improve vaccination rates and not inflame the situation by calling for compulsory shots.
“We’re looking to have a very reasoned, rational conversation with our patients, and not have a situation where someone is telling them what to do,” she said.
Studies suggest more than a third of Canadian parents wrongly believe vaccines can cause the diseases they are designed to prevent.
While fewer than five per cent to 10 per cent of parents have strong, anti-vaccination views, “many more parents have doubts and concerns,” said CMA past president Dr. Chris Simpson.
The issue has come under sharp focus following alarming outbreaks of measles — a highly infectious disease that can cause blindness, brain swelling and severe respiratory disease, even death, in severe cases — in the U.S. and parts of Canada. In June, California signed a bill into law requiring nearly every schoolchild in the state to be vaccinated and abolishing exemptions on religious grounds.
Doctors in Canada worry parents are rejecting vaccines out of misplaced fears and deep suspicions of science and Big Pharma.
Simpson said that a declaration of immunization, “coupled with a requirement to meet with public health if it’s not up to date, provides the opportunity to understand why the parent hasn’t fully vaccinated the child.” It’s an opportunity, he said, “to fully inform those (parents) who may be hesitant.”
Only Ontario and New Brunswick have laws mandating children receive the full schedule of recommended shots, although exemptions are allowed for medical reasons, or on religious grounds.
Delegates rejected a motion for a compensation plan for people who suffer grave injuries associated with vaccinations — a motion partly designed to help allay parents’ fears about vaccine safety.
Should someone suffer the rare occurrence of a severe side effect resulting in a permanent handicap, “we thought they should know they would be compensated for the rest of their lives,” said Quebec physician Dr. Pierre Harvey, a member of the CMA board and seconder of the motion.
The motion was rejected partly due to fear it would send the wrong message to the public that vaccines are dangerous, Harvey said.