Off the wire
• Tokyo shares open higher on yen's retreat  • Actor Johhny Depp's wife faces jail, fines for smuggling pet dogs into Australia  • Dollar changes hands in upper 123 yen zone in early Tokyo deals  • Aussie police finally catch driver repeatedly littering street with empty beer cans  • S. Korea reports no MERS infection for 11 days, no death for 5 days  • Singapore's external trade up 4.7 pct in June  • Gatlin, Lavillenie to lead field at Monaco Diamond League  • Leading results of Tour de France 11th stage  • Castro says blockade must be lifted before ties can be normalized  • Vietnam to host international table tennis tourney  
You are here: 　 Home

Australia gives power to refuse anti-vaccine children from early education

Xinhua, July 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

An Australian law maker has introduced a legislation that would give childcare centers increased power to exclude children who are not immunized in an attempt to increase "herd immunity" to preventable diseases.

Queensland Health Minister Cameron Dick introduced the legislation into parliament on Wednesday night that would give childcare centers the choice of whether to accept or decline children who are not immunized.

Queensland's immunization rates for children sat at 92 percent in the last quarter of 2014, short of the 95 percent recommended for strong "herd immunity".

Dick told Fairfax Media Thursday with contagious but preventable diseases such as whooping cough and measles still affecting children and more needed to be done to minimized potential for very tragic

"Every year, there are tragic cases that highlight the importance of ensuring everyone in your family is fully immunized, " Dick said.

The legislation follows on from the previous government's strategy to educate Australian parents about the importance of vaccinations. However, they had stopped short of implementing it.

The New South Wales state government has a similar law in place. Endi