Since childhood immunization is such a significant component of the health-care system, government regulation and control of the program has made vaccines a hot topic in politics. In addition, public schools require parents to show proof of immunization or a statement declining vaccination prior to school admittance. Public health, education, and individual rights become intertwined when it comes to vaccination program and funding.

Political Party

Each political party has a different approach to health care in general. Republicans favor a system where personal responsibility trumps government intervention. Each individual should be responsible for his own health care without big government to put a hand into the matter. This is the reason why government-funded vaccine programs that allow poor families to vaccinate their children get drastically reduced when Republicans are in control of the Congress and White House. Not supporting universal vaccination for children relieves the government of a tremendous financial burden, but if parents do not take the initiative to vaccinate their children and pay for the expenses themselves, the nation could face a greater burden when unvaccinated children become ill with infections.

Democrats believe that the government should play an important role in protecting the health of all children, regardless of wealth or socioeconomic level. Some of the most effective public vaccination programs were instituted by past Democratic presidents. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President John F. Kennedy, and President Bill Clinton were all strong proponents of childhood immunization, and federal funding for vaccines skyrocketed when they were in the White House. While the upfront cost of these federally funded vaccine programs is staggering, the potential for preventing future health-care costs more than justifies the investment.

Conservatives and Promiscuity

Politicians with a conservative base are against certain vaccines because some vaccines are designed to protect against sexually transmitted diseases. Since sex with more than one partner in a lifetime is not condoned by conservatives, vaccine against sexually transmitted diseases should be completely unnecessary in a perfect world. The HPV vaccine has come under attack by conservatives because opponents say the vaccine undermines the message of abstinence and promotes promiscuity.

The problem is that the vast majority of Americans do have more than one sexual partner throughout their entire life. Whether this vaccine was given or not would have very little bearing on people's sexual practice. The vaccine does not protect anyone from all sexually transmitted diseases. So unless we can live in a perfect world, where teenagers never have sex and people never have premarital sex, the HPV vaccine will continue to have a role in preventing infections in this imperfect world.

An Issue of Trust

Many people are also wary of the connection between pharmaceutical companies that manufacture vaccines and the government. You may never feel comfortable trusting pharmaceutical companies, yet they are a necessary evil. Without pharmaceutical companies, your child would have no antibiotics to treat a life-threatening infection. If you truly mistrust pharmaceutical companies and doctors, you may have to be wary of the entire health-care system, not just vaccines. The same people who make the vaccines also make antibiotics and other medications, and the same doctors who recommend immunization for your child are also the ones who treat your child when she is sick. How can you trust the same group of people in one circumstance and not in another? If doctors are lazy and ignorant (or just plain malicious), there is no one to turn to except yourself when your child gets sick.