From January 1st 2016, a new ‘No Jab, No Pay’ policy was introduced Australia wide. This policy was put in place to encourage parents to have their children’s vaccinations completed and if this was failed to be complied with, the parents Child Care Benefit, Child Care Rebate and Family Tax Benefit Part A would be ceased. According to Vaccines.gov, a vaccine is a product that produces immunity from a disease and can be administered through needle injections, by mouth, or by aerosol. Social Services Minister, Christian Porter, addressed the success of the new policy, by stating that “… figures show big improvements… with 187,695 children catching up on immunisations requirements since January 1.” Queensland Senator and One Nation Party Leader, …show more content…
For some people this arises an ethical issue, as it may be considered coercion and a form of discrimination which goes against the Australian Discrimination Act 1991. However, many other Australians see it as a measure to keep Australians and the rest of the global population protected from preventable diseases. It is estimated that 2.5 million deaths are prevented each year by the use of vaccinations globally . With data from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) providing evidence of the success of numerous vaccines, many health professionals such as former Australian Medical Association president, Brian Owler, a paediatric neurosurgeon, described “Vaccination[s] [as] the most effective public health measure ever.” While vaccines are readily available, it would be considered ‘ignorant’ to not have them done. Preventing an illness from occurring is more than logical; by doing this Parents not only protect the lives of their own children but also of others too. Having mandatory vaccinations would protect not only individuals but entire communities. Therefore, would the lack of ethics not lie in not parting in vaccinating your children by putting them and other young people at …show more content…
For example, prior to the vaccination of Meningococcal, there were approximately 700 cases from 1991-2002, claiming the lives of people even from within our own community - after the introduction of this vaccine in 2002, numbers decreased by over 50% . Another example could be the Pneumococcal Vaccine. In 2001, there were over 2,400 reported cases of Pneumococcal, this number decreased to approximately 2,200 after a vaccine was introduced for Indigenous children only in 2003. In 2004 before the vaccine became available to all children the cases increased to approximately 2,400 but After the commencement of widespread vaccination in 2005, the numbers dropped to approximately 1300 in 2009 . There were no reports of serious problems with either of those two vaccinations. It is also worth mentioning that by a study conducted by Dr Luke E. Taylor and Amy L. Swerdferger of The University of Sydney Whitley-Martin Research Centre – no link between vaccines and ASD were found. Therefore, it could be said that common misconceptions that vaccines are a link to autism can be drawn