One country set to jail parents who fail to vaccinate their children

Parents could face up to six months in jail for not vaccinating their children, according to a new law.

SBS News reports, a new law could see parents face up to six months in jail for failing to vaccinate their children.

Ugandan State Minister for Health and Primary Care, Sarah Achieng Opendi, told the BBC Focus on Africa radio program the new law had been legislated to help the Ugandan government reach their vaccination targets.

More importantly, the law also provided the much-needed jurisdiction for authorities to arrest and charge religious cult leaders who advocate against vaccines.

Some religious leaders have previously been arrested but could not be charged because there was no specific law to detain them, Ms Opendi said.

Parents and members of a religious cult, called 666, promote antivaxxer ideologies and therefore refuse to let their children get immunised.

The new legislation campaigns for the inoculations of several preventable diseases including polio and meningitis, which are still prevalent in the region.

The law also mandates all children have immunisation cards to allow them to attend school.

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11 Comments

- - mom134803, QLD said
  - 20 Nov 2016
    3:52 am
Vaccinations are a serious issue, but jail time ? that goes to far for me !!

- - mom101628, QLD said
  - 18 Nov 2016
    9:59 pm
Guess that developing countries have to be stringent in this regard.

- - Threelos, QLD said
  - 01 May 2016
    9:36 pm
Very serious issue, especially for developing countries, but I’m not sure threats of jail are the best way to convince people of the importance of vaccination.

- - Nas01, QLD said
  - 26 Apr 2016
    1:18 pm
Immunisation is vey important abd if potential jail time will make people immunise their children then I’m for it, especially in third world countries where disease is so prevalent.

- - mom165081, QLD said
  - 26 Apr 2016
    2:02 am
Sounds pretty extreme – but given the multitude of illnesses and deaths that could be prevented in a country like Uganda through vaccinations, no wonder such an idea is being mooted. As much as it wouldn’t work in practice, it is an interesting idea.

- - sharna_booth_weinrowski, QLD said
  - 17 Apr 2016
    8:37 pm
It is my choice to vaccinate my children, i believe we should, the government would provide it for free if there were issues with it. Yet i do not disagree if parents choose not to. It is what we have the right to do, right to choice.

- - BellaB, QLD said
  - 17 Apr 2016
    2:10 pm
This may well be an effective solution in their country.

- - aprilb1, QLD said
  - 15 Apr 2016
    2:54 pm
Cult’s are so dangerous! Maybe provide the parent’s assistance to help free them of the brainwashing, or better yet lock up the cult leaders

- - serotonin, QLD said
  - 07 Apr 2016
    8:33 am
Not sure how jail would help, especially if it left the child without any care. It’s such a tricky topic, both pros and cons to either side of the issue.

- - mom160421, QLD said
  - 30 Mar 2016
    8:35 pm
Seems a bit severe, but vaccination is important for the community as a whole.

- - mom90758, QLD said
  - 30 Mar 2016
    2:06 pm
I’m personally not sure that jail is the solution but I am in favour of laws to vaccinate kids.