Helping parents choose vaccination for their children

One way could be to require parents to have a meeting with a medical professional, where parents learn about how herd immunity works, says one parent

I am not sure that making immunisations compulsory, especially for state school pupils, is the way to improve rates of vaccination (Vaccine take-up: Parents who defy medical advice, 23 October), but parents ought to be legally required to acknowledge the decision they are making on behalf of those who lack the capacity to decide for themselves.

One way could be to require parents to have a meeting with a medical professional, where parents learn about how herd immunity works with reference to local take-up and risks; each of the relevant illnesses and the likelihood of complications for children and vulnerable adults; and what conventional medicine might be required to treat their children in event of worst-case scenarios. Give them 30 minutes in the waiting room with a file full of pictures and case stories – then ask them to make their decision, with the need to sign a waiver if they still decide not to vaccinate. I wonder how many of these parents would refuse conventional, presumably “unnatural”, medicine when their child is seriously ill in hospital?

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2BHdnye