Ethical evaluation of compulsory measles immunisation as a benchmark for good health management in the European Union.

The results of the study Benchmarking Regional Health Management II suggest that compulsory measles immunisation is a good practice in public health management. Yet, the potential achievement of the desired health outcome alone is not a sufficient reason to make the immunisation obligatory. Rather, compulsory measles immunisation is a morally challenging measure. In this article, compulsory measles immunisation is critically evaluated from a public health ethics point of view. For this evaluation, a set of ethical criteria is proposed: respect for autonomy, health maximisation, efficiency, proportionality and social justice. The authors suggest it should not be taken for granted that compulsory measles immunisation should be championed, rather, health policy makers in the European Union should try to raise immunisation rates with non-compulsory means.

Reference frameworks for the health management of measles, breast cancer and diabetes (type II).

This paper presents reference frameworks which order effective and feasible policies and interventions for the health management of measles, breast cancer and diabetes (type II). These reference frameworks can be used to rapidly appraise regional health policy documents and existing health management systems. Furthermore, the reference frameworks can serve health policy makers for the planning of health management measures.