The Minister of Health of Colombia, Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, said that the parental authority of children under 18 is from the State, a statement that originated a barrage of criticism from several sectors.
(Read: Ministry of Health reinforces actions due to the increase in cases of yellow fever).
“Every boy, girl or adolescent, all children under 18, parental authority is from the State”said Jaramillo when referring to parents who supposedly do not let their children vaccinate against yellow fever.
From 2024 to date, 70 cases of yellow fever, 54 of men and 12 women have been recorded in Colombia; 33 of these people have lost their lives after having infected, according to local media.
(See: The 4×1.000: the ‘curiosities’ of this tax that perhaps did not know).
“All children under 18, parental authority belongs to the State. If there is any denial on the part of a father or mother to vaccinate the child, intercede the (state) family welfare”Jaramillo said.
The statements of the Health portfolio head were rejected by several sectors.
“We vehemently reject the statements of the Minister of Health. These words bring to mind the gloomy examples of socialist and communist authoritarian regimes that used the control and indoctrination of children for their political purposes,” He affirmed the conservative party in social networks.
The former director of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) Cristina Plazas assured journalists that “It is very serious what he said” Jaramillo
(Besides: Lack of resources and inefficient expense, a limiting for sustainable development).
“The parental authority in Colombia is only of the parents, according to the Civil Code. The Minister’s statement is not only false, but dangerously authoritative”he said.
The Senator of the Opposition Party Democratic Center María Fernanda Cabal also criticized Jaramillo and said: “Minister, children are not from the State”.
“Pretending that the State replaces the family is typical of totalitarian regimes. It is not wrong, that Colombian families are not alone,” concluded Cabal.
EFE
