Prosecutor General of Maldives Hussain Shameem has revealed parents who refuse to vaccinate children will be prosecuted next month.
In a tweet, Shameem said such parents will be prosecuted in the next 22 days, when the Child Rights Protection Act comes in to action.
The government decided to take legal action against parents refusing to vaccinate children, following cases of measles reported in the country. On January 12, Ministry of Health announced cases of measles have been found in Maldives.
World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared Maldives a measles free country in 2017. However, according to the health ministry, 8 individuals have been found positive for measles this month, from the 129 individuals tested for measles.
Health Protection Agency (HPA) has announced an additional dose of measles vaccines is now given to children who are between 6 and 18 months old. HPA said efforts to control any outbreak of measles in Maldives includes arranging mechanisms to screen for the disease and provide vaccination.
HPA and the health ministry have been conducting screening programmes in the atolls to identify more cases of measles. The ministry has also been collecting information on individuals who have not been vaccinated for the highly contagious viral disease.