The sitting was attended by Minister of Health Zlatibor Loncar and Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Dr Srdjan Verbic and associates, as well as representatives of healthcare institutions and parents’ associations.

Director of Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut Public Health Institute Dr Dragan Ilic informed the assembly that in the last month the initiative to raise public awareness on the importance and need for vaccination has given good results, adding that the information and education of the citizens on the importance of vaccination will be continued.

Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Dr Srdjan Verbic said that the public should be kept informed about the importance of vaccination, a topic that is suffering from the dire effects of a negative campaign. Informing the public about the need to vaccinate children should also be viewed as a type of education for the adult population. Minister of Health Zlatibor Loncar pointed out the discrepancies in the legislation governing the field, adding that the laws should be improved and made more precise.

In the course of the discussion the participants agreed that the regulations should be harmonised and the citizens should be kept fully informed and educated on this and other healthcare issues.

After the discussion the Committee members adopted a conclusion stressing that the vaccination legislation and its framework should be urgently regulated and that Article 25 of the Law on Protection of Citizens against Infectious Diseases and Article 15 of the Patients’ Rights Law need to be harmonised.

The sitting was chaired by Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic Dejanovic, Committee Chairperson.