Maldives to start prosecuting parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids

The Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office is to start prosecuting parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.

PG Hussain Shameem announced this via Twitter on Wednesday, after his daughter got her first measles vaccination.

Noting that she will be given the second one in a month, he said that the PG office will be prosecuting parents who refuse to vaccinate their children “in 22 days.”

While the World Health Organization (WHO) publicly declared the elimination of measles from the Maldives during June 2017, it resurfaced earlier this month.

A number of cases where the parents are refusing to vaccinate their children have emerged since then, and Health Minister Abdulla Ameen said that vaccinations will be administered “even if the parents refuse.” Authorities have also launched a three-month long vaccination drive across the country.

While these cases surfaced recently, the recently approved and ratified Child Protection Act will come into effect next month. This Act states that it is the parents responsibility to ensure that their child receives medical services including administering required vaccinations, and that the parents do not have the right to refuse this.