the matter of respecting the child's right to health, on the compulsory vaccination segment, two
aspects are imperative for specialists in the field of children's rights.
Consent which is the principle by which individuals must give their permission before
accepting a doctor, an intervention or a procedure. Under current laws and regulations, in most
countries, including the Republic of Moldova, consent is required for a series of medical
interventions or procedures, from a simple blood test to an organ transplant procedure, including
vaccinations. In very few well-described circumstances, such as life-threatening emergencies, there
may be allowed some exceptions from taking consent. Consent derives from the principle of
autonomy and is an important part of medical and public health ethics. For the consent to be valid,
it must be informed, understood and voluntary, and the consenting person must have the ability to
make the decision.
The second aspect of vaccination in the field of child rights protection is agreement, this
notion refers to the process of involving children in making decisions regarding vaccination (or
other medical interventions). The agreement is not regulated in law like consent and thus, is
qualified as a moral obligation, imperative to the field of child protection, closely related to good
practices in approaching patients. International law provides strong support for children's rights to
participate in decisions about their health and health care, as well as in the planning and delivery of
relevant health services.
At the same time, the People's Advocate for Children's Rights notes that in the case of
principles based on concepts about vaccines as a public good, or on public health objectives of
disease elimination and outbreak control, the State may identify one or more vaccines to include
them in a legislative act as being binding, thus excluding the need for consent. At the moment, due
to the fact that mandatory consent is required, vaccination depends on the legal nature of the preestablished rule. However, once vaccination is mandatory and the legislator will concretely
establish in the law the list of mandatory vaccines and the conditions under which they can be
administered, consent may not be necessary.
This theory lies in the fact that currently the vaccination policy in the Republic of Moldova
is based on a soft law which, although establishing the obligation of vaccination does not provide
the necessary levers for its implementation, the only restriction provided by law is the prohibition
of admission to communities. Thus, the State is currently failing to establish a well-defined
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