France to make 11 vaccines compulsory

Eleven recommended childhood vaccines will become obligatory by 2018, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced in an address to Parliament.

Three vaccines, for diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis, are already mandatory in France. Another eight vaccines that are currently recommended but would become compulsory include polio, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae bacteria, pneumococcus and meningococcus C.

As reported, Health Minister Agnès Buzyn told Le Parisien in June that the government was considering the policy.

The re-emergence of illnesses such as measles is believed to be caused by a decrease in the take-up of vaccines. In France, a recent survey found that three in 10 people do not trust vaccines, with only 52% stating they believed that the benefits outweighed perceived risks.

Mr Philippe said it was 'unacceptable' that children are 'still dying of measles'.

“In the homeland of Pasteur that is not admissible,” he said.

Mr Philippe did not explain whether cost of the additional vaccines would be fully reimbursed.

The move follows a similar initiative in Italy, which insisted children must be vaccinated against 12 common illnesses otherwise they would be banned from attending school.

Between 2008 and the end of 2016, more than 24,000 cases of measles were declared in France, official figures show. Of these, around 1,500 resulted in serious complications and 10 deaths. Fifty cases were reported in an outbreak in Lorraine in early 2017.

The World Health Organisation has warned of major measles outbreaks spreading across Europe despite the availability of a vaccine.

In the speech, Mr Philippe also promised that, by the end of the government's five-year term, all French people 'will have access to fully reimbursed healthcare services for spectacles, dental care and hearing aids'.