Biology Week 11 - Vaccination and Public Health

1. Parents' roles in vaccination schedules
I'm not sure that I have a strong opinion about whether or not parents "should" be active in their children's vaccination schedules. I see the value in universal vaccination, and yet also think that people should be able to choose what happens to their children and when. I think it is very easy to frame the conflict around the issue of whether or not parents that opt out are putting an unfair burden on the rest of the population to protect their child via herd immunity, but I think the issue lies deeper. Parents that have reservations about vaccinations are not selfish, nor are they more paranoid than any other parents. I, personally, don't think that their skepticism of the medical establishment is crazy or unfounded, and relate the fear of having an unknown substance injected into a child's body. I think the true issue is that it IS so easy to develop unease about pharmaceutical companies and public health systems, and that it has become normal to feel ignored or left in the dark by doctors and other healthcare professionals.

2. Compulsory vaccination programs?
I think my answer for this question is fairly similar to the above. I would not be opposed to a compulsory vaccination system if I felt that the medical establishment could be absolutely trusted to maintain the best interest of the people as the SOLE priority. But, as it stands, privatized health care and big pharma make me feel less enthusiastic about such a program, not just because I reject the idea of taking away the choice to say no to these institutions, but because I would worry about what such a program would do to the standards of care - wouldn't it be a little like making the purchase of some good mandatory? If you are working within a capitalist system, aren't you supposed to encourage competition? Of course, this seems absurd in healthcare anyways, as the basic tenants of "supply and demand" have grave implications, but a good whose purchase is considered a given would certainly not be given the same amount of development, research, and marketing as one that was subject to the competition of the free market. Why do we have privatized healthcare, again?