Compulsory Childhood Vaccination: Children’s Best Interests as Paramount Consideration

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-352-8_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Childhood Vaccination; Compulsory Vaccination; Vaccination; Children’s Best Interest

Abstract

Childhood vaccination has played a significant role in reducing mortality rates among children, targeting various preventable diseases like smallpox, poliomyelitis, meningitis, and diphtheria. Some countries have even enacted compulsory childhood vaccination laws due to their proven effectiveness in countering life-threatening infectious illnesses in infants. Despite its success, childhood vaccination is confronted by conflicting interests, encompassing parental rights, medical officers and state prerogatives, public rights, and children's rights in making decisions about immunization. This study concentrates on exploring the concept of compulsory childhood vaccination in Malaysia, with a focus on the principle of prioritizing the best interests of children. The primary discourse examines the necessity of compulsory childhood vaccination and the complexities involving the collective and individual best interests of children when deliberating vaccination choices. The authors utilized qualitative research to gather data for this study. Through an examination of relevant legislation, notably the Child Act 2001, it is evident that safeguarding children's best interests should take precedence when addressing childhood vaccination. Instances from other countries that have enforced compulsory childhood vaccination laws are also examined. This research, through its thorough analysis of legal and policy frameworks related to mandatory childhood vaccination, serves to enhance scholarly understanding by bridging gaps in existing research and inspiring further investigation into the matter within the Malaysian context.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Khairun Nisaa Asari
AU  - Yuhanif Yusof
AU  - Rohizan Halim
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/01/10
TI  - Compulsory Childhood Vaccination: Children’s Best Interests as Paramount Consideration
BT  - Proceedings of the 12th UUM International Legal Conference 2023 (UUMILC 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 170
EP  - 178
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-352-8_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-352-8_13
ID  - Asari2024
ER  -