Lombardy will not introduce the obligation of vaccinations in schools.

No prohibition on attending schools for non-vaccinated children.

After region Emilia-Romagna has passed the law, which introduce the obligation of being vaccinated in order to attend nursery schools, Council member of Lombardy Welfare Giulio Gallera deny that the region will follow this example. “The choice of Lombardy about vaccination is to inform and convince, not force. Our mission is to go on raising awareness and ensuring responsibility of the families to understand the importance of vaccines.”

Fifteen years ago, Lombardy schools requested vaccinations to assure a healthy environment even for children who could not undergo vaccinations because of their health. Then it was chosen only “to advise”. This measure allowed the number of dissenting parents to rise during those years.

The alarm for the increasing number of non-vaccinated children is always high. Even if the province of Varese has reached the aim of 95% of people vaccinated against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B, haemophilus B and the consensus of exanthema disease (measles, mumps, rubella) varies between 86% and 91%, doctors are worried about the ‘low’ consensus on the anti-measles vaccine; the disease can have a series of consequences such as encephalitis (2^nd dose 86% measles). The distribution of the 4^th dose of the polio vaccine is also low (86%).

On the contrary, figures concerning vaccinations against meningitis are far more comforting: pneumococcus (92% according to 2014 figures) and meningococcal (about 90% according to 2014 figures); the second outcome is far more above the regional expectations, set at 80%.

In the end, also figures concerning the vaccination on young girls against papilloma virus are far more above the expectations: 76% of girls born in 2003 have been vaccinated (the average level was 75%), whereas, concerning the girls born in 2014, 80% of them for the first dose and 74% of them for the second dose have been vaccinated during the ongoing campaign.

However, Lombardy has established, among its priorities, the awareness towards vaccine campaigns: “an incisive and vast campaign of information will begin soon: in schools, clinics, on the internet, also using innovative tools such as a specially-made app, so that we can arrive quickly to mothers, children and all parents that must make a choice” has explained Mr. Gallera.

vaccinazioni–:what you need to know