Italy will make vaccines compulsory for school starters

Italia/Mayo de 2017/Fuente: The Local

Resumen: La ministra de Salud de Italia, Beatriz Lorenzin, dijo el viernes que el gobierno planeaba aprobar una ley que prohíba a los niños no vacunados de comenzar en las escuelas estatales «a finales de la próxima semana». Ella hizo el anuncio por primera vez en la televisión italiana el jueves por la noche, cuando dijo que había preparado un proyecto de ley obligando a las vacunas a asistir a la escuela.

Italy’s health minister Beatrice Lorenzin said on Friday that the government planned to approve legislation banning non-vaccinated children from starting at state schools «by the end of next week».

She first made the announcement on Italian TV on Thursday night, when she said she had prepared a bill making vaccinations compulsory in order to attend school.

On Friday morning, Lorenzin confirmed that she had presented the white paper to the Italian cabinet, and that it would be passed by decree within seven days.

She also described the fall in vaccination cover across Italy as «an emergency generated by fake news».

The minister has previously sounded the alarm over the recent rise in infectious diseases. In March, she called to «rapidly boost» vaccination cover and last November, she welcomed the decision of an Italian region to ban non-vaccinated children from public daycare centres.

Lorenzin has also shared photos of her three-month-old twins getting their vaccines, saying: «Mums, don’t be afraid».

However, the move on Friday appeared to cause friction within the government, with Education Minister Valeria Fedeli said early on Friday that she was «astonished» by the way Lorenzin had pushed through the bill.

Recently re-elected Democratic Party leader Matteo Renzi commented: «The government is giving an impression of no coordination, and everyone doing what they feel like», according to Il Sole 24 Ore.

Fedeli later said: «We will work together to create a concrete way of making vaccines obligatory without infringing upon the right to education».

Vaccination controversy in Italy

Measles cases rose more than fivefold across Italy in April, compared to the same month last year, the National Health Institute said at the start of May, with a growing anti-vaccine movement believed to have contributed to the increase.

Meanwhile, up to 20,000 children in Treviso, northern Italy, are thought to be at risk of infectious diseases following revelations that an Italian nurse ‘pretended’ to administer vaccines while really throwing away the phials.

Italy was one of the countries where discredited claims of a link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination and autism had a significant impact on public perceptions of the safety of the jab.

But Italy’s Five Star Movement party has also been heavily criticized for its role in raising doubts over the efficacy of vaccinations.

Grillo accused the New York Times of «fake news» over an article titled ‘Populism, Politics and Measles’ in which the paper said he had «campaigned actively on an anti-vaccination platform».

«There is nothing to support this lie,» said Grillo in his blog, despite the fact that in 2014 the party proposed a law calling «for better information and possible denial of administering vaccinations» – with Grillo one of the signatories.

The proposal included the line: «Recent studies have brought to light the link between vaccinations and specific illnesses such as leukaemia, poisoning, inflammation, immunodepression, inheritable genetic mutations, cancer, autism and allergies.»

Fuente: https://www.thelocal.it/20170512/italy-vaccinations-compulsory-children-school-health

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