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doctors reject compulsory childhood vaccination issued by - BMA London Office - Wednesday 03 Jul 2002

The British Medical Association's annual conference in Harrogate has rejected a call for compulsory childhood immunisation. Instead the conference decided to commission an authoritative report from its Board of Science and Education which will review the principles of vaccination and immunisation and the potential advantages and disadvantages of mandatory childhood immunisation.

Some other countries, including France, Canada and Barbados have compulsory MMR programmes but many of the GPs and public health doctors attending the BMA conference expressed the fear that introducing a compulsory programme in the UK would be counterproductive in the current climate of parental anxiety over MMR.

Speaking after the debate, London GP Dr Laurence Buckman said that doctors are completely committed to providing parents with all the evidence but that parental choice, including "informed dissent" must be respected. Dr Buckman argued that compulsory vaccination might be acceptable in countries where there is no controversy over the immunisation programme but would not be appropriate in the UK.

The BMA's Board of Science will review the experience of other countries as well as the wealth of scientific evidence available on the safety and efficacy of vaccines including MMR.

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