Vaccination is considered as one of the most effective interventions in public health in the entire world meant to save lives and promote good health. Despite the performance of vaccines, certain nations have experienced reduced rates of vaccination, and this is due to the misguided belief concerning the safety of the vaccines (Pierik, 2018). The challenge experienced is that parents are less likely to witness the severe effects of the infectious diseases that can be prevented through the use of vaccines. It is hence possible for misplaced anxiety concerning the disease to override the concerns on the disease. The fall in vaccination has been accompanied by a resurgence of infectious diseases that are dangerous to the lives of the children. It is the reason that most nations have preferred vaccination to be mandatory.
Vaccines are probably the most modern forms of medication that have saved many lives in different nations. Vaccination has contributed to the complete elimination of smallpox infection that was one of the contagious diseases in most countries. Vaccines may be available in the developed nations, but parents have failed to use them due to misguided concerns on the safety of the vaccines (Rebmann et al., 2016). The vaccines are readily available in these countries, but parents have refused to vaccinate their children. For example, in the UK, 5% of the parents refuse to vaccinate their children, and in the US, 9% of the parents fail to vaccinate their children (Pierik, 2018). Since vaccines have saved the lives of children in most countries, the government must make vaccination mandatory to all the children. Usually, before a child is vaccinated, an extensive review is performed by health experts. Vaccines have side effects, but this cannot be compared by the severe impact the contagious diseases can bring to the children. The disease-prevention properties of vaccination to the children is much higher than the side effects.
Despite the success of vaccination in certain countries, vaccination rates have fallen since more parents refuse to vaccinate their children. Parents are convinced that by refusing vaccination for their children, they are making the right choice to safeguard the lives of their children. Parents fall into the state of false complacency since they have not witnessed measles, polio, or other contagious diseases, and they do not understand the risk of these diseases to their children (Galanakis et al., 2013). The information that the parents use to justify the refusal of vaccines is usually unscientific and flawed. The internet provides information that is unrealistic and distorted information that misguides the parents. Parents have a lot of information at their disposal from various sources (Grégoire, 2019). The opponents of vaccines have always cited fraudulent studies that have been distorted. The problems associated with vaccination, such as perceived safety issues and isolation of specific groups of people in the community, have adversely impacted the mandate for vaccination.
The personal beliefs and the exceptions issued by different states in the US are affecting the effort to vaccinate children against infectious diseases. Since there are a lot of contagious diseases affecting the children, the best way to solve the situation is to ensure that more people are vaccinated. The best way to ensure that every child is vaccinated is to tighten up the vaccination policies. Despite releasing images of children held down and vaccinated by force, in 1853, Wales and England have authorized policies mandating vaccination against smallpox. It is hence high time for all nations of the world to make the vaccination of children mandatory.