Speech or Opinion Piece:
It should be mandatory for parents to immunise their children.
Could you bear to watch a boy suffocating from whooping cough because mucus prevents him breathing easily? Or children crippled from polio? Or a boy locked in a contorted grimace, his body rigid with cramp, racked by spasms from tetanus.
This is the fate of many young children in Australia thanks to the misinformed and recalcitrant stance taken by many anti-vaxxers.
Vaccination rates are falling in Australia and this has serious consequences for the widespread health of the community. The best way to halt this growing complacency is to introduce the government’s, ‘No Jab, No Play’ policy which will make it increasingly difficult for so-called do-gooders to become “conscientious objectors”. As a nation whose health system is ranked as one of the best in the world, we must maintain this image and make it mandatory for parents to immunise their children. This will not only protect all children, but also ensure that those who do not take the necessary precautions will not undermine the health of others.
Introducing compulsory vaccinations can and will prevent children from contracting a potentially fatal disease. Vaccinations are quick, safe and extremely effective and once an individual has been vaccinated against a disease, their body is able to fight it more effectively. It is just a couple of immunisations every now and then that can potentially save a life. They are free, effective and harmless.
Contrastingly, those who fail to vaccinate are not only endangering themselves but other children. Health Minister Jill Hennessy said “Children who are not fully immunised face the very real risk of contracting a range of vaccine-preventable diseases, some of which can cause serious illnesses or be fatal.” In other words, the children of objectors may well suffer from a curable disease. How could any parent even think about putting their child through this pain? For example, research shows that between 2008 and 2011, up to 130,000 babies suffered unnecessarily from whooping cough, an infectious disease that usually affects infants and young children and can lead to death. Cases quadrupled between last April and December last year in New South Wales, and doubled in Victoria and in the Australian Capital Territory. Likewise, in countries such as Britain many diseases that once thought to be eradicated such as measles and diphtheria are re-occurring because of the low level of general immunity. Young Australian’s don’t have first-hand experience of these diseases but this could change.
(Causing deaths) this could change, because of anti-vaxxers who are endangering the lives of many innocent babies. Their refusal to vaccinate their children and their lack of immunity serious endangers the lives of other, younger babies. In the last six years, 12 babies have died as a result of whooping cough. Health Minister Jill Hennessy said, “Immunisation not only protects those who are vaccinated, it also protects those in our community who may be unable to receive vaccines themselves, like children with cancer or who have allergies.” This is what happened to Riley Hughes, a four week old baby passed away as a result of whooping cough in March last year. He was too young to be vaccinated, meaning that he had to rely on other parents to vaccinate their children. He is just one case, but there are up to 10 percent of children who are not vaccinated. They are also at risk should they travel to countries where immunity is very low – unlike Australia. So if we do make vaccinations compulsory, we will be creating ‘herd immunity’ where majority of our population will be immune from diseases, and in the process, virtually guaranteeing everyone’s safety from these serious threats. Were every child to be vaccinated, it is highly unlikely that anyone in Australia would ever contract an eradicable disease.
The Government’s decision to withhold welfare benefits to so called “conscientious objectors” is a good move, because taxpayers should not subsidise those members of the community who undermine the health of all children. Because voluntary inducements are not working, stricter measures are needed. For this reason, the new mandatory policies are so important. Parents will lose the Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement and childcare subsidies if their child is not up to date with their immunisations. The government has estimated that more than 39,000 children under the age of seven are not vaccinated because their parents are vaccine objectors. Social Service Minister Scott Morrison said, “It’s not fair for taxpayers to subsidise parents who choose not to immunise.” At stake are the $200 a week childcare benefit, the $7500-a-year childcare rebate or the $726 Family Tax Benefit A annual supplement. The amount of welfare benefits each family receives depends upon family income, the number and age of children, and if parents don’t immunise their children, they could lose up to $15,000 worth of benefits per child. The ‘No Jab, No Play’ policy introduced by the Abbott Government will encourage families to immunise their children, as there may be a financial incentive involved. So therefore, parents should immunise their children in order to receive these welfare benefits. I’m sure every parent would love a financial help.
Australian research shows that some parents are concerned about vaccine safety and effectiveness. Some objectors dramatically think that vaccinations are unnatural and there are prevalent fears about a link between vaccination and autism. Xx is a typical anti-vaxxer who relies on misinformation circulating in the community. She believes ….
This is incorrect. A news report led by the University of Sydney has found that there is no link between vaccination and the development of autism or autism spectrum disorders. The study examined seven sets of data involving more than 1.25million children and concluded that there was a lack of association between common vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough and the development of autism.
It is extremely difficult to prove that the disease occurred after or because of the injection. Research also found that the one reason as to why parents choose not to immunise their children is because parents think that the side effects are worse than the actual disease itself. Sir Gustax Nossal, an Australian research biologist specialising in immunology said, “the disease is far, far worse than vaccine side effects.” According to Nossal, the chances of a patient reacting to immunisations are only ‘one in a million’ and are lower than contracting the same disease naturally. Vaccinations are just like any other kind of medication, where some people may have side effects and others may not. The side effects of vaccinations may only be mild, such as pain and soreness at the injection area and fevers, however they usually resolve quickly without any medication and are minimal compared to the pain, discomfort and trauma of the diseases vaccines are able to prevent. Serious side effects following vaccinations such as severe allergic reactions are not common.
In addition, all vaccines in Australia have undertaken extensive research and must be approved for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, who monitor the safety of medicines in Australia. Although it’s true that people are still able to catch a disease after they’ve been vaccinated against it, no vaccine can guarantee that they will be completely immune to it, however according to vaccines.gov, most childhood vaccines produce immunity about 90-100% of the time. Some effective vaccinations include polio, where 95 out of every 100 people vaccinated will be completely immune and whooping cough, where about 85 out of every 100 people vaccinated will be completely immune.
As a nation, we are privileged to live in a modern society where science has advanced to ensure future generations are immunised to life-threatening diseases. Parents must know that vaccinations are important, that one immunisation can make a huge difference. Since past use of immunisations has eradicated epidemics such as measles and diphtheria, young Australian’s don’t have first-hand experience of the devastations these diseases can have. So introducing compulsory vaccinations will ensure general immunity of the wider community. In this process, disease will not spread, as most people may be immune to it and as for the future, this ‘no jab, no play’ policy will benefit them the most, as nearly everyone will be protected against these life threatening diseases. It is estimated that vaccinations save three million lives world-wide each year.
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