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Should countries make vaccination compulsory?

CONTEXT

Vaccines supposedly represent one of the most successful and effective interventions in medicine. By vaccinating people, society has been able to eradicate numerous diseases that caused millions of deaths before. A dramatic example is smallpox, which was responsible for some of the most formidable epidemics of humankind. In 1967 it was the cause of 2 million deaths; a decade later it was totally eradicated from the planet and many claim this was due to the global vaccination program. Many countries have thus made it compulsory for people to be vaccinated against various diseases. However, together with vaccination rose also anti-vaccination movements. Nowadays pharmaceutical companies are getting enormous profits from vaccination and different interest groups promote either the option of free choice or of compulsory vaccination.

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