US lawmakers promote anti-vaccination measures

Lawmakers in the USA are pushing ahead with rules that would make it easier for parents to avoid vaccinating their children, even as health agencies report a rise in preventable diseases such as measles.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there have been 159 individual cases of the disease this year, up to February 21. Cases have been detected in ten states across the country.

Despite this, Arizona lawmakers have voted to promote three bills that would facilitate the granting of exemptions from the state's vaccine requirements. The measures cleared the House's Health and Human Services Committee along party lines, with Democrats voting against.