Ethical evaluation of compulsory measles immunisation as a benchmark for good health management in the European Union.
The results of the study Benchmarking Regional Health Management II suggest that compulsory measles immunisation is a good practice in public health management. Yet, the potential achievement of the desired health outcome alone is not a sufficient reason to make the immunisation obligatory. Rather, compulsory measles immunisation is a morally challenging measure. In this article, compulsory measles immunisation is critically evaluated from a public health ethics point of view. For this evaluation, a set of ethical criteria is proposed: respect for autonomy, health maximisation, efficiency, proportionality and social justice. The authors suggest it should not be taken for granted that compulsory measles immunisation should be championed, rather, health policy makers in the European Union should try to raise immunisation rates with non-compulsory means.
Schröder-Bäck
Peter
P
Department of International Health, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Peter.Schroder@INTHEALTH.unimaas.nl
Brand
Helmut
H
Escamilla
Ixhel
I
Davies
John K
JK
Hall
Caroline
C
Hickey
Kieran
K
Jelastopulu
Eleni
E
Mechtler
Reli
R
Volf
Jaroslav
J
D019985:Benchmarking / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods*; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000941:ethics*; D008458:Measles Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D028723:Personhood; D015980:Public Health Practice / Q000941:ethics*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012935:Social Justice
D008458:Measles Vaccine