Serbia to make vaccination of children obligatory

Serbia to make vaccination of children obligatory

BELGRADE -- The upcoming changes to the Law on Protection against Contagious Diseases will align it with EU standards and make the vaccination of children compulsory.

This was announced by Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar late last week.

The Beta news agency Loncar explained that "parents will not be allowed to refuse obligatory child vaccination."

Otherwise, "they will be punished in line with the law," the minister explained, without giving any further details.

Loncar said the draft amendments would be on the agenda of Parliament's Committee on Health and the Family on April 3, "and will be put to vote in parliament around Orthodox Easter (April 12)."

Serbia's current legislation mandates the vaccination of children against ten contagious diseases, but at the same time, the Law on the Protection of Rights of Patients allows parents to choose "which type of medical assistance to accept."

Loncar said this legal discrepancy is not acceptable and underlined once again that vaccination of children will become obligatory.

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