By Alejandro Melendez Diaz
The Constitutional Court condemned the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) for the case of a child who was not vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus, despite the fact that his mother requested it from the Ebais of Esquipulas in Palmares.
According to the high court, the plaintiff was told that this immunization was aimed at girls between 10 and 12 years old. So, if she wanted to vaccinate her son, she had to do it privately.
However, the appellant argued that this represents a very high cost that she cannot pay. Therefore, she filed an appeal for protection, considering that the CCSS’s position constitutes gender discrimination and inequality that violates the right to decent and preventive health care for underage males.
Denise Mora, spokesperson for the Fourth Chamber, offered more context on this resolution by the constitutional magistrates.
According to the resolution, the plaintiff was summoned on June 24, 2024, to the Ebais in Esquipulas to vaccinate the minor. However, the Constitutional Court does not consider it a proven fact that the child was actually immunized with the vaccine against Human Papillomavirus.
Mora stressed that the Court gave the director of the Palmares Health Area three working days from the notification of the sentence to apply the dose to the minor, in case it has not been done.
An attempt was made to obtain a response from the CCSS on this case, however, at the time of closing this note no response had been obtained.
