Health

Outrage as health care providers refuse to treat unvaccinated children

Mar 08, 2017

Some parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children.

There has been public outcry today after a study revealed an alarming number of children were being refused treatment by some health care providers because they were not vaccinated.

The study conducted by Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne found some health care providers were turning children away because they didn’t want to risk infection spreading.

While some parents choose not to vaccinate their kids for personal reasons, the study’s lead author, Dr Anthea Rhodes, said “all children, regardless of their vaccination status, have an equal right to health care”.

“While some people may feel they can understand the reasons for doctors and other healthcare providers thinking twice about whether they will treat unvaccinated kids, we have to remember these children are not making that decision for themselves,” she told News Corp.

The report comes just days after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson made headlines for her comments in the media linking vaccinations with autism and likening the government’s No Jab, No Pay policy to a dictatorship rule.

While studies aligning vaccinations with autism have been widely discredited, there is still wariness around the issue with 10 per cent of parents believing the link is legitimate.

Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon told Sunrise he would be worried if the health care providers mentioned in the study included doctors.

“Well, certainly legally they can refuse treatment, but ethically they shouldn’t,” he said.

“Parents who deny their children the individual benefits of vaccination against preventable and infectious disease are already doing their child a disservice. Doctors would not seek to enhance that disadvantage.”