What’s more important, the health of the collective or the rights of the individual?

LONDON - As doctors struggle to eradicate polio worldwide, one of their biggest problems is persuading parents to vaccinate their children. In Belgium, authorities are resorting to an extreme measure: prison sentences.

Two sets of parents in Belgium were recently handed five month prison terms for failing to vaccinate their children against polio. Each parent was also fined 4,100 euros ($8,000).

“It’s a pretty extraordinary case,” said Dr. Ross Upshur, director of the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto.

“The Belgians have a right to take some action against the parents, given the seriousness of polio, but the question is, is a prison sentence disproportionate?”

This is actually a pretty tough call to make.  On one hand there’s the case for individual liberty.  If we let the government force us to take certain medications do we not abdicate all control over ourselves?  If they can make us get a shot, they can make us do anything.

On the other hand, while I’m no medical expert, I’m told that vaccinations are only as good as the number of people who get them.  Vaccinating for polio is pointless if a significant number of the population doesn’t get the vaccination.

Even so, common sense tells us that you get more with sugar than you do with vinegar.  Perhaps the government of Belgium would have been better off offering parents some sort of incentive for getting the vaccinations.  It probably would have been just as cost-effective (trying and jailing people isn’t cheap) and ultimately would have likely ended in a much happier situation.