Cut child benefit 
of parents who refuse to vaccinate - local doctor

Fears that some almost forgotten, but very dangerous diseases could strike the country again, has prompted Meath GP Dr Ruairi Hanley to propose a radical initiative to ensure parents vaccinate their children.

The outspoken doctor has proposed cutting children's allowance in half to parents who do not vaccinate their children without having a proper reason.
Pointing out that dozens of children died from measles in Eastern Europe in the last year, he said lives are at stake because of parents refusing to vaccinate their children.
“This should be looked at as a public health measure. In Australia, there is a 100 per cent cut in benefit if you don't vaccinate your child,” he told the Meath Chronicle.
Writing in the Irish Medical Times earlier he expressed regret that thousands of parents are denying their daughters the HPV vaccine which helps prevent cervical cancer.
“This scientific breakthrough has the potential to save the lives of hundreds of young women in the decades to come. Regrettably, thanks to the efforts of a minority of campaigners, and the irrational world of the internet, thousands of parents are denying their daughters this cancer-preventing jab,” he said.
Dr Hanley expressed concern that there was a broader anti vaccination movement gaining ground in the US and indeed here in Ireland.
He was critical of those who peddle unscientific garbage online in an effort to support their own irrational views.
“The journalists who disseminate such drivel, and the politicians who give it a sympathetic hearing, also bear much responsibility for the subsequent human suffering that inevitably occurs when immunisation levels fall.
“I believe the obsessive desire of GPs to avoid appearing judgemental has made the situation worse. Rather than simply dismissing the arguments of anti-vaccine campaigners, far too many of my colleagues have sought to reason with them through education and explaining basic concepts like cause and effect.
“They thus inadvertently created a debate that should never have existed in the first place. It does not work because the people it is aimed at simply do not want it to work.”
“Barring exceptional circumstances, any parent who fails to complete the childhood immunisation schedule should lose 50 per cent of their children’s allowance payment.”
“Overnight, this problem would be solved.
“We have tried the politically correct method and we are not winning.
“Why don’t we try my way instead?,” he asked.