Combining the need to achieve the necessary vaccination coverage in the population with legal provisions that infringe on human rights is unacceptable. The problem is in the law defined in this way, which asks citizens to decide which of these two options is more important to them. Both categories are equally important and neither should be jeopardized.
This was assessed for "Vijesti" by an academician of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU), Prof. Dr. Goran Nikolic.
Commenting on the new Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, which stipulates that unvaccinated children cannot attend kindergarten, he said that public health experts, together with everyone, should strive to find solutions that do not come at the expense of reducing or abolishing human rights.
"We must not do this. The problem is not easy. A 'scale' where public health is threatened on one side and human rights on the other should not exist. It cannot tip in either direction. There is no solution in sight at the moment, but if it were different, this topic would not have become the focus of public interest," he said.
Nikolić reminds that the new Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases proposes a ban on the enrollment in preschool institutions of children who are not fully vaccinated. This, he believes, establishes a "balance" on which, on the one hand, vaccination as a basic measure of protection of the population from infectious diseases is weighed, and on the other hand, human rights, which in this case are used as a means of sanctioning. In this way, citizens are faced with a dilemma, claims Nikolić: which of these two fundamental civilizational categories is more important.
"Vaccinations (immunizations) are one of the most effective measures to protect public health - they protect individuals from severe forms of disease and at the same time protect the community from the spread of infectious diseases. Without vaccinations, which have been used since the end of the 18th century, the world would look different. According to most analyses, vaccination is in first place when fundamental discoveries in medicine are cited. However, in the last decade, public health experts, in the application of vaccination, have encountered the problem of reduced response of citizens to calls for immunization, so that coverage falls below the level necessary for vaccines to be effective in preventing epidemics. That is why they are trying to find solutions," Nikolić points out.
On the other hand, he said that human rights are universal, inalienable and indivisible rights and freedoms that belong to every human being.
"They oblige the state and other public authorities to respect them (not to interfere), protect them (to prevent harm from others) and fulfill them (to take measures to realize them). One of these rights is the right to choose treatment, within which there is also the right to refuse treatment or medical intervention. Unfortunately, Montenegrin laws define situations when they can be limited for the common good. Our goal should be not to use these exceptions, but to expand them," Nikolić believes.
He points out that, in an effort to increase the number of vaccinated people, sanctions are being used against those who do not respond to calls for vaccination. Sanctions, he warns, are being raised to the level of restricting human rights (in this case, the right to education), which is unacceptable from the perspective of respecting civilizational norms.
A bill that would prevent unvaccinated children from attending kindergarten was submitted to the Parliament by MPs Albin Ceman, Dragana Vucevic, Dane Markovic, Vaso Obradović, Amer Smailovic i Nikola Camaj, and was adopted through an urgent procedure just ten days later, on the last day of December.
"A condition for children to stay in public and private preschool institutions of upbringing and education is that they have been vaccinated, except in cases of permanent medical contraindications for a particular immunization. A certificate of mandatory vaccination can only be issued by a selected pediatrician of the competent health center," reads Article 42 of the new Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases.
While the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) does not support the new law that conditions a child's access to education upon vaccination, the institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms believes that the state has the right to prescribe measures that will yield better results in protecting the population from infectious diseases, and which can be verified through judicial protection.
Head of the UNICEF representative office in Montenegro Mikele Sarvadei He assessed for "Vijesti" that denying access to preschool education due to parental decisions leads to double punishment of children and claims that their position on mandatory vaccination is based on scientific evidence and international law, especially the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In the institution of the Ombudsman, headed by Siniša Bjeković, argue that there is a case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case against the Czech Republic, from 2021, which finds that mandatory vaccination of children against nine infectious diseases infringes on the right to privacy, but does not constitute a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights when it comes to the “right to respect for private life”.
The Ministry of Health emphasizes that the proposed solution is the result of clear and unanimous recommendations from the medical profession, based on epidemiological data, regional practice and the principles of human rights protection. They said that Montenegro faces enormous challenges in the acceptance of immunization, which have been detected since 2014, but have been significantly emphasized after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges, they claim, are best seen in vaccination coverage, where there has been a decline in coverage of almost all vaccines and boosters from the Regular Immunization Program, although eleven vaccines are mandatory.
IJZ: Measure introduced to protect the health of the youngest
The Institute of Public Health (IJZ) announced yesterday that the new Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases stipulates a mandatory certificate of compulsory vaccination of a child as a condition for enrollment and/or attendance at preschool institutions, and that this measure is being introduced for the purpose of health protection.
"Especially the youngest, who are most susceptible to developing severe forms of certain infectious diseases, as well as to reduce the risk of epidemics in collectives, where infections spread most quickly," they said.
The Public Health Institute pointed out that similar legal solutions already exist in countries in the region, including Slovenia, Serbia, and Albania, and claimed that vaccination coverage in these countries has been at a significantly higher level in recent years than in Montenegro.
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