Enforcing children’s right to self-determination in health care: theoretical and practical issues raised by the refusal of age-related compulsory vaccinations in Hungary

• Published in: European integration studies 2023-06, Vol.19 (1), p.1-15
• Main Author: Barzó, Tímea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Child custody; Child welfare; Court decisions; Disease; Documentation; Epidemics; Families & family life; Intervention; Medical treatment; Parents & parenting; Pediatrics; Vaccines
• ISSN: 1588-6735; 3004-2518
• DOI: 10.46941/2023.e1.1

nti-vaccination is a world-wide movement that has, unfortunately, found followers in Hungary as well. Anti-vaccination advocates attempt to postpone or outright avoid compulsory vaccinations for their children in various ways. On the one hand, these parents do not cooperate with family pediatricians, family nurses, and vaccinating doctors, and on the other hand, possession of medical documentation or certification without having actually had the vaccinations administered is an increasingly common phenomenon. One of the harmful consequences of the anti-vaccination movement is the increased incidence of epidemic outbreaks in developed countries, not just in developing ones.2 The question arises as to in what form and under what procedural framework a minor child’s right to self-determination in medical procedures should be enforced and whether the child’s parent, as the child’s legal representative, has the right –– and if so, within what legal framework –– to decide and even refuse, with regard to their child, a medical treatment or invasive intervention that is compulsory or recommended by a doctor. The case of refusal of age-related compulsory vaccinations is also of particular importance. The paper deals in more detail with the legal background of the arguments and counter-arguments and the practical problems involved.