Use International HPV Vaccination Day as the start of a comprehensive vaccination program
Vienna (OTS) – “People continue to report to the Ombudsman that they cannot afford the urgently recommended vaccines. The elderly who are worried about the herpes zoster vaccination, but also the youngest who should pay a few hundred euros for the HPV vaccination”, says Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz: “That the matter is now moving forward and the HPV vaccination Making vaccination free for everyone under 30 is an important step. “But the goal must be that all vaccines recommended by the National Vaccination Council are free.”
“You need to be able to pay for healthcare, here too there is still two-tier medicine. Making HPV vaccination available to more people now is a good approach, because it not only protects those who are vaccinated, but also protects themselves, but also others,” says Achitz on the occasion of International HPV Vaccination Day in March 4th.
HPV vaccination rates are very low, and recently, gaps in vaccination against measles and whooping cough and an increase in the incidence of the disease have been reported. Achitz: “Vaccines not only have to be free, but access could also be facilitated, for example, through public vaccination routes with centralized appointment management.” For the healthcare system, vaccination costs would probably also be cheaper than treatment costs that could be avoided – also because the public sector covers the costs per vaccination dose can be significantly reduced compared to sales in pharmacies.
“Prevention keeps you healthy, saves people a lot of suffering and saves the healthcare system money for treatment. Everyone agrees on this in dry theory. In practice, however, a lot depends on education and income”, says Ombudsman Achitz.
SERVICE: The Ombudsman can be contacted by email at [email protected] and by calling the toll-free number 0800 223 223
Questions and contact:
Florian Kraftner
Media spokesperson at the Ombudsman's office, Mag. Bernhard Achitz
+43 664 301 60 96
[email protected]
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