Vaccines: doctors urge Marisol Touraine to position itself

Due to the lack of responsiveness from the government, the battle continues over compulsory vaccination. While DT-Polio trivalent vaccines to make it possible to vaccinate only for the three compulsory diseases (diphtheria, tetanus, polio), the Confederation of French medical unions (CSMF) conversely asks that the obligation be extended to vaccines not obligatory (pertussis, measles, hepatitis B).

The liberal doctors’ union considers that the decision of the Council of State brings into play the medical responsibility of practitioners, who fear the disappearance of vaccination against whooping cough, not compulsory but immunizing against “an extremely serious affection in infants” . It was imposed de facto through the use of tetra-, penta- and hexavalent vaccines, the only ones currently available on the market for getting vaccinated against DT-polio. The CSMF thus supports the conclusions of the Fischer report, published at the end of 2016.

“The extension of vaccination obligations, as recommended by the Fischer report, would fulfill a double objective: to bring the law into line with health needs, and to respond to current constraints. Which vaccines and for whom? So as not to put doctors in an untenable position from a medico-legal point of view, explained on Friday the president of the CSMF, Dr. Jean-Paul Ortiz, in a press release. Vaccination is an essential public health issue: the government cannot leave the population in uncertainty. “

A temporary obligation for 11 vaccines

Following citizen consultation, the Fischer report concluded on the need to extend the obligation and include the 8 other recommended vaccines: pertussis, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae, pneumococcus, meningococcus C, measles, rubella and mumps. A temporary obligation, intended to restore the confidence of the French and which, in the long term, could be lifted.

A decision that was not to please the anti-vaccine leagues, which had submitted a petition to the Council of State, asking that the DT-Polio vaccine be made available alone, absent from pharmacies since 2008. The only vaccines available contain also a vaccine against whooping cough via tetravalent, even penta or hexavalent vaccines, with in addition hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae.

A purely legal decision in an absurd context

The decision of the Council of State forces Marisol Touraine to take a position quickly, estimates Professor Alain Fischer, president of the citizen consultation on vaccination, which understands the reaction of the Council of State on the legal level vis-a-vis the decision-making vacuum of the ministry for Health, but who regrets the absurdity of the situation. “The Council of State, I think, takes a decision which, from a legal point of view, is illogical with the fact that there are three compulsory vaccines and that the others are only recommended, he explained this Friday to Why actor. The context is just absurd, but legally founded. “

“For me there is a certain urgency to position oneself, he continued. As we wrote in our report a few weeks ago, this situation where three vaccines are mandatory and the others recommended makes absolutely no sense. “

The legal and substantive battle therefore continues, in a context of growing mistrust of the French in the face of vaccination. By not reacting quickly enough, the government is embarrassing itself. It must now modify the legislation to extend the vaccination obligation, or require laboratories to make trivalent vaccines available.

Find the full interview with Prof. Alain Fischer.