France signed the Convention of Oviedo and requires through various texts the preliminary consent of the individual (or his representatives, generally parents) to any medical act on that person. Nevertheless the French law makes mandatory for the general population, the frequentation of communities including nurseries, daycares and schools.
A new policy requires all children born January 2018 or later to receive 11 mandatory vaccines. That means that the number of mandatory vaccines has increased from 3 to 11. Before 2018 vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis (and against yellow fever in Guyana district) was mandatory, now also vaccination against polio, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae bacteria, pneumococcus and meningococcus C is made mandatory.
Parents who fail to get their children inoculated could face up to six months in prison and a fine of €3,750.
Before the trivalent DTPolio vaccine is no longer available, so to meet the requirements parents are forced to give their children the hexavalent (Infanrix Hexa) or pentavalent vaccines which include the legally-required vaccines along with other non-legally-required vaccines.
Law recognizes contraindication certificates, but they are generally overlooked or even ignored by the administrations. Other vaccinations are mandatory for the exercise of some medical professions.
The health insurance system gives a premium on objectives to doctors for flu jabs of given range of patients. It fixes vaccines prices so that the industrialists can find it beneficial to present only new combining vaccines to increase their turnover. In 2007 vaccinations represented 12,6% of general practitioners’ turnover and 33% of paediatricians’. This gives place to conflicts between parents and physicians/administrations, sometimes between parents too. Refusal of mandatory vaccination gives place to lawsuits with heavy, but not easily applicable threats. Abuses of administrations give place to many disputes.
