Vaccines are one of the public health sector’s greatest achievements. However, there is an ethical dilemma within the balance of managing risks to public health and preserving personal and parental autonomy. The egoistic tendencies of parents who are unwilling to vaccinate their children, putting the welfare of their own family as well as the welfare of the population at risk to satisfy their personal morals and beliefs, is posing problems. Vaccination rates for certain diseases, such as for measles in the United States, are dropping for the first time in history due to various reasons, and outbreaks for these viruses are becoming more frequent. It is necessary that legislation considers various tactics in order to raise these values once again. …show more content…
If one looks to the USA, only three states– California, West Virginia, and Mississippi– have reasonably strict vaccination mandates, turning away both philosophical and religious exemptions. In every other state, religious exemptions are deemed sufficient in the avoidance of vaccination, with philosophical exemptions being prominent as well. The regions that have determined that exemptions to vaccines should only be made in circumstances where it is impossible medically have shown higher levels of immunity and far less outbreaks than regions that have not. From this it should be clear that there should be more regulation and legislation in place in order to promote and ensure widespread vaccination. However, as was previously mentioned, one of the main obstacles is actually the simplicity in avoiding