Germany will now fine parents up to $3,000 if they fail to vaccinate their children or question the safety of vaccines.
According to Health Minister German Gröhe, the draconian new law is designed to tackle the measles epidemic in the country, and to exterminate ‘conspiracy theories’ that suggest vaccinations are dangerous.
The German government wants teachers to inform authorities about any parents who appear to question the effectiveness of vaccines and who cannot provide proof that their children have had a medical consultation with a government approved doctor.
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BBC News reports: Speaking to the popular daily Bild, Mr Gröhe said: “Continuing deaths from measles cannot leave anyone indifferent.”
Under the plan, the children of parents who fail to seek vaccination advice could be expelled from their daycare centre. The law is expected to be adopted next month.
The upper house of the German parliament, the Bundesrat, said forcing kindergartens to report some parents to the health authorities might breach data protection laws.
Italy health campaign
Italy has recorded nearly three times more measles cases so far this year than for all of 2016.
Last week the Italian government ruled that parents must vaccinate their children against 12 common illnesses before enrolling them at state-run schools. The list includes measles, polio, whooping cough and hepatitis B.
By mid-April this year Germany had 410 measles cases, compared with 325 for the whole of 2016, the Robert Koch Institute reported.
The institute said that besides children, all adults born since 1970 should get immunised against measles, if they had not had the measles jab or had had it only once.
Last week a German court ruled that a father could insist on having his child vaccinated, over the objections of the mother. The case concerned a separated couple, and the child was living with the mother.
Italian officials have attacked what they call “anti-scientific” theories which have led to vaccination rates falling well below levels deemed safe to prevent outbreaks.
Those theories include a long discredited link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.
