VACCINATION: STATE-IMPLEMENTED MEDICO-SOCIAL AND LEGAL MEASURES

The article reviews the medical and social vaccination-related initiatives in different countries of the world aimed at maintaining the balance between the public interest and respect for rights. A separate emphasis is put on exceptions to general rules of compulsory vaccination of children based on religious, philosophic and other personal beliefs of their parents. The connection between the medical and social initiatives applied in different countries, exemption from vaccination for non-medical reasons and reduction of herd immunity is determine. The methods of the research include the comparative method, i.e. the comparison of Ukrainian and international medical and social initiatives related to vaccination of children; the statistical method which is used for generalization of vaccination-related information of the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; the systematic analysis aimed at identification of existing shortcomings and positive experience of state policies of children vaccination in different countries of the world; the linguo-cognitive analysis, i.e the analysis of reasons for judgements with relation to the role of vaccination in modern countries and those social and medical initiatives that are allowed to be used in certain states to ensure exercise of human rights. Even a slight reduction in numbers of vaccinated children caused by parents' hesitancy due to certain non-medical reasons, religious and philosophic beliefs will have negative consequences for the public health and country's economy. Looking for a balance of human rights and public interest when it comes to vaccination resulted in establishing by the supranational judicial institutions of the prevalence of social necessity over individual rights. These findings should play a key role in the selection by different states of vaccination-related medical and social initiatives.