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No vaccination, no nursery: Galicia plans ban against ant-vax movement

The Local Spain
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No vaccination, no nursery: Galicia plans ban against ant-vax movement
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Regional authorities in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia are studying plans to ban children who are not fully vaccinated from attending public daycare centers.

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The measure is to combat the growing number of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children because they believe it to be more harmful that good.

The anti-vaxxers movement has been blamed for an increase in previously eradicated childhood diseases such as measles from some parts of the world.

The World Health Organization said anti-vaccine views were a "top 10 global health threat" in 2019.

Galicia’s regional Social Policy Ministry is considering the proposal to force parents to have their children vaccinated in order to attend state day care facilities.

It would mean all children aged between 0 and three years-old must have a full vaccination record in order to be enrolled in a public nursery.

The measure could be in place as soon as the next academic year begins in September, reported regional newspaper La Voz de Galicia. 

Under Spanish national law vaccines are voluntary not compulsory but are provided for free on the national health service.

Figures for 2018 showed that 97 percent of the infant population were vaccinated correctly, but that leaves between 80,000 and 150,000 children in Spain whose parents have chosen not to vaccinate them.

READ ALSO: Spain is officially the world's healthiest country

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