Parents will soon decide on their own about vaccinating children

Parents in the Federation of BiH will be able to decide for themselves whether to vaccinate their children – confirmed for the BiH news agency Patria (NAP) dr. Jelena Ravlija, federal epidemiologist.

However, if parents refuse the vaccine, she says, they will have to sign a form accepting responsibility for any consequences.

Vaccination of children of a certain age against certain diseases in the Federation of BiH is currently mandatory, according to the federal Order on the Program of Mandatory Vaccination.

However, due to very strong organizations worldwide calling for the abolition of vaccines, there are increasingly more parents in the Federation who doubt the correctness of vaccinating children.

- Doctors talk to parents and explain the importance of vaccination. So far, they are quite successful in this – says dr. Ravlija. 

According to the federal Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, parents whose children are not vaccinated can be fined from 100 to 2,000 KM. Also, unvaccinated children may be denied admission to kindergarten or school until they are vaccinated.

However, such radical measures, says dr. Ravlija, although mandated by law, are not used in the Federation, or "parents are not yet being billed".

She warns that the complications that can arise in unvaccinated children are far greater than the complications that can arise after vaccination.

- If any complication occurs after vaccination, parents can seek certain protection from the state through the courts. However, for problems that occur in children due to non-vaccination, parents must bear the burden themselves – warns Ravlija.