The vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus and polio (DTP), the only ones to be mandatory in France, must be available without combination with other vaccines, said Wednesday the State Council. This request had collected more than a million signatories to a petition.
The Council of State, the highest administrative court in France, “ordered the Minister of Health to take steps to make available ‘ DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and polio) in that form alone, while the laboratories ‘currently associated with other “highly recommended” vaccines in combination vaccines which are sold more expensive.
“The law, which only imposes three obligations vaccination, necessarily implies that it is possible to comply by using vaccines that contain only these three vaccinations”, argued the State Council.
Three injections grouped
“This decision gives us satisfaction,” commented Jacqueline Bergel Me, a lawyer of some 2,300 plaintiffs.
The State Council “heard the reasoning I have held” that a shortage of stock is synonymous with non-availability and thus remind the ministry, which said “incompetent” in this regard, that “by law obliges and gives him powers “, she added.
In France, the three mandatory vaccines are diphtheria since 1938, tetanus and polio since 1940 since 1964. They are the subject of grouped into three injections (DTP) before the age of 18 months.
Supply changes
Laboratories are committed to providing special kits containing only the mandatory vaccinations, but only for children with indications of adverse effects.
Moreover, there are strong supply changes for months for the tetravalent vaccine (DTP + whooping cough) and pentavalent (which vaccinate as against the Haemophilus influenza bacteria causing some meningitis).
In practice, “only the hexavalent vaccines (which include three compulsory vaccinations + pertussis, Haemophilus influenza and hepatitis B) are available today”, recognized on the 16th January on public rapporteur of the Council of State.
Alarmist petition
At the origin of the complaint, Augustine Livois, president of the Institute for the Protection of Natural Health (IPSN), had also launched a petition on the dangers of vaccination has stirred controversy in medical circles.
With this petition which is about the dangers of certain vaccines, particularly because of the presence of aluminum in their base mixture, signatories also denounced the lack of mandatory vaccines that forced parents to have their children immunized against six diseases instead of three.
The State Council has however rejected the argument on the “alleged risks of non-compulsory vaccinations” , stressing that “no serious element is provided on the existence of a risk to the integrity of the person and endangering others “ .
