Atti del 52° Congresso Nazionale: Società Italiana di Igiene, Medicina Preventiva e Sanità Pubblica (SItI)

Fifty-two people completed the questionnaire, a response rate of 71%. They are mostly medical doctors (86 %) working in Universities (56%) or Prevention departments (21%) and directly involved in vaccinations (71%). The vast majority of respondents is in favor of the Italian mandatory vaccine Law (85%) and 65% believes that it should not be removed. Moreover, 83% or respondents is against the recent Government's proposal of introducing a "flexible" obligation. Among the alternative strategies to mandatory vaccinations, the favorite are vaccination promotion and information campaigns for the general population and organizational interventions to strengthen vaccination services. Nevertheless, 67% of respondents consider their implementation to be very difficult. Concerning the epidemiologic impact of mandatory vaccination, the majority or respondents agree that mandatory vaccination is able to increase vaccination coverage and reduce morbidity from vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. Concerning the social impact, the majority of respondents believes that mandatory vaccination encourages hesitant parents to vaccinate their children but exacerbate the quarrel with no vax movements. Finally, regarding the economic impact, the majority of respondents agree that mandatory vaccination will overall save health and social costs for the National Health System.