You're reading: Chief doctor: mass refusal by citizens to be vaccinated partly to blame for A(H1N1) epidemic

Chief State Sanitary Doctor Oleksandr Bilovol sees the mass refusal from vaccination as one of the reasons for the epidemic of flu and acute respiratory diseases in Ukraine.

He said this during the conference call meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Saturday.

"We have virtually stopped immunization, and the level of the disease is a consequence of the minimization of vaccination among the Ukrainian population," he said.

He said several deaths allegedly after vaccines have significantly cut the volume of vaccination in 2008-2009.

He said the level of immunization was 68% over the January-September 2009 period on such diseases as measles and 50% on other disease, whereas the desired level is 95%.

He said the government has provided regions with vaccines against seasonal flu.

He called on local authorities and politicians to help restore trust of the population to immunoprophylaxis in Ukraine.

As Ukrainian News reported, as of October 31, 13 cases of A(H1N1) flu was officially confirmed in Ukraine.

The Health Ministry on October 30 declared the A(H1N1) flu epidemic throughout Ukraine.

The Cabinet of Ministers has introduced quarantine in nine regions, banned organization of mass events, and closed schools for three weeks because of the epidemic influenza.