Motion for a resolution - B8-0195/2018Motion for a resolution
B8-0195/2018

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on vaccine hesitancy and the drop in vaccination rates in Europe

16.4.2018 - (2017/2951(RSP))

further to Questions for Oral Answer B8‑0011/2018 and B8‑0012/2018
pursuant to Rule 128(5) of the Rules of Procedure

Joëlle Mélin on behalf of the ENF Group

Procedure : 2017/2951(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B8-0195/2018
Texts tabled :
B8-0195/2018
Texts adopted :

B8‑0195/2018

European Parliament resolution on vaccine hesitancy and the drop in vaccination rates in Europe

(2017/2951(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

–  having regard to the Council conclusions on ‘Childhood immunisation: successes and challenges of European childhood immunisation and the way forward’, adopted by the health ministers of the EU Member States on 6 June 2011[1],

–  having regard to the Council conclusions of 1 December 2014 on vaccinations as an effective tool in public health,

–  having regard to the Commission communication of 29 June 2017 entitled ‘A European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)’ (COM(2017)0339),

–  having regard to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), endorsed by the 194 member states of the World Health Assembly in May 2012,

–  having regard to the WHO’s resolution 68.6, adopted by the 194 member states of the World Health Assembly on 26 May 2015,

–  having regard to the WHO’s European Vaccine Action Plan 2015-2020, adopted on 18 September 2014,

–  having regard to the technical report of 27 April 2017 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on ‘Immunisation information systems in the EU and EEA’,

–  having regard to the ECDC’s technical report of 14 June 2017 entitled ‘Vaccine-preventable diseases and immunisation: Core competencies’,

–  having regard to the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 21 September 2016 on antimicrobial resistance,

–  having regard to the World Bank report of March 2017 entitled ‘Drug-Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future’,

–  having regard to the Council recommendation of 22 December 2009 on seasonal influenza vaccination[2],

–  having regard to the increasing numbers of intercontinental travellers,

–  having regard to the questions to the Council and to the Commission on vaccine hesitancy and the drop in vaccination rates in Europe (O-000008/2018 – B8‑0011/2018 and O-000009/2018 – B8‑0012/2018),

–  having regard to Rules 128(5) and 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the preventive vaccination technique targeting certain diseases such as tetanus, poliomyelitis, smallpox and tuberculosis has so far yielded excellent results, with no significant side effects, either at European or global level, without raising concern about a minimum vaccination coverage rate;

B.  whereas in Europe, these pathologies, in a resistant form, are reappearing today with a direct and proven link to great waves of migration;

C.  whereas in seven years, the number of cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in the EU would have been 215 000 cases excluding influenza, i.e. 30 000 per year, or 0.0055 % of the European population, which is very low in scientific terms of benefit / risk[3];

D.  whereas 95 % of these diseases, some of which are potentially fatal and could be prevented by vaccination, have essentially been eradicated in Europe solely through hygiene techniques, in particular measles;

E.  whereas there are still 2.5 million deaths in the world, not directly due to insufficient vaccination, but due to the spread of certain diseases solely through poor hygiene;

F.  whereas, on 1 January 2018, vaccinations in the 28 Member States were extremely disparate and there have been vaccine shortages in Europe for ten years;

G.  whereas, in spite of this, there has been no pandemic in Europe or in the world justifying the alarmist pro‑vaccination speeches being made;

H.  whereas it is precisely these orchestrated alarmist speeches that constitute genuine fake news;

I.  whereas, moreover, no experiments have been carried out on polyvalent vaccines of multiple strains in spite of the fact that the use of polyvalent vaccines is in the process of being imposed in various countries of the Union at present;

J.  whereas the link between vaccines and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not direct; whereas AMR can only be tackled by the proper use of antibiotics globally, and not simply by the proper use of vaccines;

K.  whereas Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides that: ‘1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others’;

1.  Calls for very scrupulous checks on migrants at the EU’s external borders to establish whether they might be carriers of resistant germs;

2.  Calls for the same checks to be carried out at the borders of each Member State;

3.  Calls on each Member State to launch a major experiment on polyvalent vaccines before they are marketed and imposed by law, and to compare their benefit / risk ratios with other preventive techniques;

4.  Calls for the publication – with the greatest transparency – of all information relating to the European call for tenders launched and endorsed by the 24 Member States with vaccine‑producing laboratories;

5.  Calls for compliance with the European Court of Human Rights’ decision on respect for privacy[4] to be extended to compulsory vaccination by extrapolation;

6.  Calls for the competence of the Member States to establish vaccination schedules to be maintained;

7.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Member States, the World Health Organisation and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

 

Last updated: 17 April 2018
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