Children, human rights and vaccination in the pursuit of the highest attainable standard of health in Europe

There is a tightrope between the need to safeguard the health of children and broader society and the need to protect the manifestation of children’s rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This chapter examines the tension between these competing but parallel rights. Accordingly, it considers the historical relationship between the vaccination of children and European human rights law and ethics. Focus is placed on the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) judgment in Vavřička and Others v. the Czech Republic. The chapter recognises and validates the importance of vaccination in the context of global health, but queries whether mandatory vaccination of children is an ethically appropriate approach. Attention is given to the specific concepts such as solidarity, autonomy, best interests, justice and harm as they apply to vaccination of children. The chapter argues that mandatory childhood vaccination, as it stands, is not fully aligned with some medical ethical principles. A new approach based on ‘Solidaristic autonomy’ is presented as a means of addressing this difficulty and of promoting best practice in vaccination policy.