An amendment from Italy's anti-establishment government that removes mandatory vaccination for schoolchildren is sending shock waves through the country's scientific and medical community.
It suspends for a year a law that requires parents to provide proof of 10 routine vaccinations when enrolling their children in nurseries or preschools. The amendment was approved by Italy's upper house of parliament on Friday by 148 to 110 votes and still has to pass the lower house.
The law had originally been introduced by the Democratic Party in July 2017 amid an ongoing outbreak of measles that saw 5,004 cases reported in 2017 -- the second-highest figure in Europe after Romania -- according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Italy accounted for 34% of all measles cases reported by countries in the European Economic Area, the center said.
Italy's Five Star movement and its coalition partner, the far-right League, both voiced their opposition to compulsory vaccinations, claiming they discourage school inclusion.
English Language Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/07/health/italy-anti-vaccine-law-measles-intl/index.html
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday August 08 2018, @09:28PM (4 children)
My vaccinations were written in my passport before I moved to Italy in 1970.
EU citizens aren't required to show passports when crossing internal borders. At least that was my experience when I visited Rome. But if Italy gets a few epidemics I could really see the EU quarantining the whole country.
Good Times.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by r1348 on Wednesday August 08 2018, @10:26PM
Why would you expect a sudden epidemic, given that the mandatory vaccination law has been in effect for less than a year?
(Score: 3, Informative) by NewNic on Wednesday August 08 2018, @10:26PM (2 children)
Not true. You are thinking of the Schengen Area, which has a similar list of members to the EU, but not identical. For example, the UK is not a Schengen Area country, so you may need a passport to travel from the UK to Italy (although, in my experience, when travelling to Italy, the enforcement of this is sporadic).
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:17AM (1 child)
Don't worry, we have an office [wikipedia.org] devoted to helping fix this discrepancy.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by NewNic on Thursday August 09 2018, @04:45PM
"we"?
A brief look at your posting history suggests that you are in a place that uses Pacific time, so are you a transplant?
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory