PRESS RELEASE:

Secret Government Plan to Link School, Preschool Enrolments to Children's Jabs "Dictatorial and Unwarranted"

A document released under the Official Information Act shows that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education are working together "to strengthen the requirements on parents to present immunisation information when their children enrol in early childhood centres and schools."

Currently, there is no legal requirement for parents to bring their child's "immunisation certificate" when enroling a child in a school or preschool, although schools and ECE centres are required under the 1995 Health (Immunisation) Regulations to ask to see the certificate. If a child does not have an immunisation certificate, he or she can still be enrolled but will be recorded as unvaccinated on the school's vaccination register, and can be excluded from school if there are any disease outbreaks.

Health Report 20120196 does not state how the government intends to change the current situation concerning provision of "immunisation information" at enrollment. However a 2011 report by the Health Select Committee recommended to the government that "The required immunisation information should consist of either a certificate demonstrating that the child has received all the appropriate vaccinations, or a written statement that the parents have declined to immunise their child."

This recommendation has been roundly criticised by Katherine Smith, spokeswoman for No Forced Vaccines.

"This recommendation appears to be designed to force parents to 'choose' between their children either having no vaccinations at all, or every vaccination recommended by the Ministry of Health," she said. "The government has no right to try to dictate parents' vaccination choices: most parents support vaccination but many are selective about the vaccines they want their children have, and choose for them to have some vaccines but not others."

Any policy designed to force parents into making an "all or nothing choice" when it comes to vaccination, Smith said is a "dictatorial and unwarranted attempt to interfere in parents' rights to choose their children's health care."

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