The legality of mandatory vaccination

Vaccination in India has been carried out for the past 70 years and is seen as a major part of the public health policy of independent India. Its ability to provide for an efficient and cheap form of preventive healthcare makes it the most viable option for a developing state such as India. However, in an effort to achieve total vaccine coverage, the government ends up forcing the vaccination without taking into account the objections raised by the general populace. This leads to a reduction in the government's accountability when faced with issues of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). Thus, while it is important that the government should provide for a better AEFI surveillance system and a vaccination data bank, stakeholder engagement has to be given due priority, in order to ensure that the programme functions with transparency and credibility. Key words: AEFI, transparency, consent, trust, mandatory vaccination.