Give free TBE vaccination to young people – Opinion

letters to the editor Being able to run in tall grass on the way to the bathing place is the image of a summer vacation. Unfortunately, tall grass is not only associated with the game, but also with ticks. Ticks that sometimes carry TBE serious illness.

The beautiful and lacustrine nature of our county also leads to an increased risk of TBE. This serious disease is transmitted by ticks and can cause meningitis or inflammation of the brain. According to the public health authority, 200 to 400 people in Sweden have been affected each year by the TBE in recent years. The record year was 2017 with 391 reported cases. The county of Uppsala is one of the most affected counties and the municipality of Enköping is at the top of the statistics.

This is why, during our stay in the Uppsala region, we studied the possibility of making free TBT vaccination for children and young people from 3 to 18 years old. It was simply to prevent parents from worrying about the tick bite of their children.

Our proposals are ready but, unfortunately, they found themselves in a dusty chest of drawers of the blue-green table of the region. In Sörmland County, the free TBE vaccination was introduced for children in January 2018 and the number of vaccinations has increased five-fold compared to 2017. We present the proposal again because Uppsala County is not will not find in terms of health.

We want the free TBT vaccination to be introduced in two stages. The first is to make free vaccination effective for children and young people. At the same time, we can not stay there. Many may not be vaccinated anyway or do not know that this opportunity exists. Therefore, we would like TBE vaccination to be included in the long-term general immunization program. It goes without saying that all children and all young people should have the same opportunities to enjoy good health.

Health care is too often characterized by short-term thinking. With our proposal, we want to do exactly the opposite. If vaccination is free, more people can live long and healthy lives. It also reduces health care costs. In this way, it becomes an economic benefit to health. Now we hope that more people dare to think about the future and see that we are making a profitable investment today for tomorrow.

At the same time, it is not just about costs, but about something so simple and obvious that the size of the parents' wallet should not determine the risk of their children suffering from serious illnesses. Adequate protection can now cost many thousands of dollars for a family with children. A money that everyone can not afford to avoid. So we can not have it.

Too early are the summer holidays. Now let's make sure all parents can leave their kids outside and enjoy the warmth without worrying about ticks. Let's protect our children and young people together against infectious diseases such as TBE. After all, it's one of the most important things we can do.