Ukraine anti-vaccine protesters insist on rights despite measles outbreak

Some 200 anti-vaccine protesters rallied in Kiev Thursday after authorities threatened to ban unvaccinated children from schools in Ukraine, which is hit by a deadly measles outbreak.

Ukraine has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe and has recorded more than 57,000 measles cases since the start of the year, including 18 deaths: an unprecedented number since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

In mid-August, the government threatened to ban unvaccinated children from access to schools.

The Kiev protesters, many of them young parents with children and some from the provinces, insisted they had the right to refuse vaccinations.

"I am for a free choice and against discrimination," said Alla Fedorchuk, a 25-year-old who travelled to the capital from the western city of Lutsk.

Her three-year-old son has not been vaccinated. Fedorchuk said a relative suffered side effects after being vaccinated.

Some protesters carried banners that read "Forced medical intervention is a crime."