61% of parents in Bulgaria support mandatory vaccines and 95% of general practitioners advise parents to vaccinate their children, in order to protect them from a number of diseases. This is shown by a nationally representative study of the attitudes of parents in Bulgaria towards vaccines, conducted by the sociological agency "Global Metrics" on order by UNICEF Bulgaria and the Ministry of Health.

About 8% of respondents want complete freedom for parents to make decisions about vaccines, while 13% say that just some vaccines should be mandatory. There is a certain tendency towards an increase in the share of parents refusing to vaccinate their children. 32.2% of them made this decision after several vaccines given to their children. For 18.4%, the refusal is motivated by fear that vaccines cause autism; 15.8% are worried about other side effects and 14.5% are worried about harmful ingredients in the composition of the vaccines themselves.

Photos: UNICEF