In light of recent outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe, the Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin), in partnership with the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, conducted a review of immunization legislation in the region in 2018. The resulting report, Legislative Approaches to Immunization Across the European Region, examines how countries have approached immunization legislation, ranging from voluntary or recommended (the state asks that individuals seek out immunization) to mandatory (the state requires that individuals are immunized).
This study is the first and only systematic review of immunization legislation that includes all 53 countries in the region and provides a comprehensive overview that can be used by countries as a point of reference when evaluating legislative frameworks for immunization. This is a first step down an important path not only to begin to track changes in legislation for immunization, but also to see what impact they may have. The review reflects previous studies in that there is not “best approach” to immunization coverage, but rather encourages future study for correlation, and enforces that various factors – social, political, historical and economical – must be considered carefully by policy makers prior to implementing legislation.
In this webinar, we will walk through the report’s findings with Dr. Bruce Gellin, president of Global Immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, and Katie Gottschalk, executive director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law.
Participants will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A Session with our research team. A recording of the webinar will also be available after its conclusion.
