Draft bill in Romania: Children need vaccination certificate at school

Romania’s Ministry of Health yesterday launched into public debate the new law on vaccination. According to the draft bill, parents will not be penalized if they refuse the immunization of their children, but they must submit vaccination certificates if they want to enroll their kids in a kindergarten or school, reports local Mediafax. The document proving that the children have received the vaccine can be issued by the family doctor or the medical services provider. “The main aim of this law is not to sanction parents (...) but to provide a better information on the types of vaccines, their benefits, the kids’ health, the risk they are exposed to without vaccination,” reads the bill. The Health Ministry officials said that the vaccination rate has decreased in the country. “Vaccination in Romania has steadily declined from year to year for all the vaccines included in the national vaccination program,” according to the bill’s preamble. This has led to a measles epidemic at national level. There have been confirmed around 4,090 measles cases in 38 counties, including 21 deaths. World Health Organization asks Romania and other countries to take action against measles outbreak editor@romania-insider.com