Parents should not have to prove vaccines that are missing from their child's electronic health record, because the health insurance fund already holds the data, Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva has said. She made the recommendation to health minister Katya Ivkova and to Dr Vladimir Daskalov, head of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), her office said.
Gaps in the National Health Information System (NHIS) could mean children are refused a place at a kindergarten or nursery, Delcheva warned.
She acted after complaints from people who were forced to prove their children's vaccinations. In one case, a mother checked her daughter's file on the "eZdrave" portal and saw only the latest vaccine. All the others were missing. The problem arose when she tried to enrol the child at a kindergarten in Sofia. The kindergarten would not accept a paper document and insisted that all vaccination data be in the NHIS.
The health ministry has told the ombudsman how the process works now. A parent or legal guardian files a declaration with the regional health inspectorate where they live and attaches an official medical document for the vaccine. After a check, the data can be added to the system if it matches.
Delcheva says this process puts needless strain on parents. She believes many will face difficulties, feel uncertain and worry, and that children's rights could be breached if parents do not know about the procedure or if it is delayed.
The ombudsman says vaccine data is held by the NHIF because doctors and medical facilities with a contract with the fund report vaccinations to it. She asks why parents must take extra steps to get the same data into the NHIS.
She proposes that Ivkova and Daskalov look into the problem in depth and discuss having the NHIF add the missing data to the NHIS itself, or at parents' request.
In March, the health ministry added a tool to its website that lets anyone quickly see which free preventive check-ups, tests and vaccinations they are entitled to.