Senior officials in Israel's health funds called today (Sunday) for strict measures to be taken against those who refuse to vaccinate or to vaccinate their children, due to a decline in public response to vaccinations. At a conference held by the "Friends for Medicine" organization, Leumit Health Fund CEO Chaim Fernandes said that economic sanctions should be considered in response to vaccine refusal.
Fernandes suggested that it might be worth considering withdrawing the economic benefits given to vaccine refusers, such as child allowances and tax credit points, as a penalty for putting the public at risk by avoiding vaccinations: "When a person increases the risk of using the healthcare system and infecting others, it also has an economic implication."
Dr. Eran Rotman, deputy CEO of Maccabi Health Services, joined the call, arguing that the state must take measures that have not been implemented so far against vaccine refusers, adding that the issue is both ethical and moral: "A parent who doesn't vaccinate their children is endangering not only their own children but also those around them."
The conference was also attended by Professor Doron Netzer, Head of the Community Medicine Department at Clalit Health Services, who added that public awareness efforts had failed, and therefore the steps needed to be intensified: "If we don't make it mandatory for the public to vaccinate, we won't reach the necessary vaccination rate," he said.