Parliamentary question - O-000009/2018Parliamentary question
O-000009/2018

Vaccine hesitancy and the drop in vaccination rates in Europe

Question for oral answer O-000009/2018
to the Commission
Rule 128
Renate Sommer, Elena Gentile, Bolesław G. Piecha, Gesine Meissner, Kateřina Konečná, Marco Affronte, Mireille D'Ornano, on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Procedure : 2017/2951(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
O-000009/2018
Texts tabled :
O-000009/2018 (B8-0012/2018)
Votes :
Texts adopted :

Vaccination is unquestionably one of the most cost-effective public health measures available. Widespread vaccination has eradicated smallpox and made Europe polio-free. All EU Member States recommend vaccination against serious, sometimes life-threatening diseases. However, some vaccines remain undervalued and under-used. Despite, or perhaps because of, their public health impact, an increasing number of parents and patients are choosing to delay or refuse vaccines. Widespread vaccine hesitancy has become a worrying phenomenon due to the range of health-related consequences it causes in the Member States. Recent epidemiological data on the situation of vaccination in the Member States shows a significant drop in the use of vaccines.

Given the above:

– How does the Commission plan to address the resistance to vaccination?

– How does the Commission intend to ensure that a comprehensive EU Action Plan raising the social problem of vaccine hesitancy is drawn up?

– What concrete actions is the Commission planning to facilitate a more harmonised schedule for vaccinations across the EU?

– How does the Commission plan to address the spread of unreliable, misleading and unscientific information on vaccination and to further develop information campaigns aimed at providing more in-depth knowledge about vaccines and increasing vaccination coverage?

Last updated: 6 February 2018
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