Don´t let kids skip vaccinations because of religious or philosophical objections, Ontario urged
(The Star Books)

Toronto’s top public health official is urging the Ontario government to consider halting the practice of letting schoolchildren skip vaccinations because their parents claim religious or philosophical objections. Dr. Eileen de Villa made the controversial recommendation to end all but medical exemptions — along with numerous other measures aimed at combating the spread of misinformation about vaccines that threaten to lower overall immunity — in a report released Monday. Vaccination in Ontario is mandatory for schoolchildren but parents can invoke exemptions for their kids based on medical, religious or philosophical grounds after attending an information session — something Ontario has no plans to change, Health Minister Christine Elliott’s office said Monday.Also among de Villa’s eight recommendations — the health board asking advertisers and social media sites to clamp down on misleading anti-vaccination information; setting immunization targets for Ontario health teams and providing “financial incentives� to local health-care providers to get kids immunized; strengthening supports for people who experience serious side-effects from vaccines including a provincial compensation program; and ensuring schools have programs to educate children about vaccines and help boost immunization levels.But the most controversial, and potentially politically contentious, will be de Villa’s call for Ontario to “consider removing philosophical and religious exemptions under the Immunization of School Pupils Act and only accept medical exemptions completed by a certified health care provider.� De Villa wrote: “Vaccine hesitancy, the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines, is a growing concern in Canada,� so Toronto public health needs a “comprehensive strategy� involing parents, health care providers, students, educators and all levels of government ...