Bulgarian Health Ministry campaign to explain need for vaccination of young children
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Health has launched a major campaign to explain the need for and benefits of mandatory vaccination of young children.
The head of the Bulgarian Paediatric Association, Professor Vladimir Pilosof, said that there were “not many” in Bulgarian society who opposed vaccination.
“They are thoughtful people who have concerns. As specialists, we have an obligation to explain,” he said. Modern humankind could not exist without vaccines, Pilosof said.
In Bulgaria, the immunisation calendar continues 10 or 15 years for each child, so people should be continuously kept informed, he said.
“By not vaccinating your child, you endanger others, this must be understood,” Pilosof said.
Health Minister Petar Moskov told a news conference ahead of the start of the campaign that it was intended to respond to the concerns of the people that vaccines are harmful.
Opinions in society about vaccines would also be polled, he said.
“When pure idiocy appears on the internet, doctors believe that it is not necessary to respond to it. It is necessary because people read it and are worried about their children. They are not worried because they are stupid, but because they do not understand,” Moskov said.
“Both the state and the medical community should explain, because otherwise we shall all suffer as a society, not just the specific child,” he said.
(Photo: Brian Hoskins/sxc.hu)
