Why Children Are Not Immunised

Parents have the responsibility of rearing and protecting their children. Very few parents object on principle to vaccination; anti-vaccination leagues have a long history [2], and their rights have to be respected. The day has not arrived when a child has sued his parents for not providing adequate protection!. The current services best suit the stable coping families. However, there are within every society, families in crisis, families on the move, travellers and other parents who for one reason or another are unable or unwilling to fulfil their duties to their children. A different approach is required for the children of such families but, with adaption, their needs can be met. It is unlikely that they would be helped by more information, but they might well respond to a health worker they could trust and who is able to give the vaccine when the opportunity presents. More probing enquiries have revealed that many parents have instinctive anxieties, for example some fear injections and are not happy to bring their child to 'have the needle'. But parent interviews indicate that the majority of parents have a good appreciation of the benefits and risks of, say, the pertussis vaccine and accept that there are uncertainties and that some things are not known; but they were perplexed by the confusing and contradictory messages they got from local health advisers and national authorities [3]. Poliomyelitis, diphtheria and tetanus are now rare diseases and are unlikely to have been within the personal experience of most of today's parents. Measles and whooping cough may be viewed as comparatively mild disorders from which recovery is the rule. There appears to be a need for a simple statement written for parents about the disease, its consequences and the risks of catching it, as well as the efficacy and safety of the