MMR adviser demands single jabs
Kate Foster Health Correspondent
ONE OF the Scottish executive’s most senior
public health policy advisers has become the first key figure to break
ranks on the MMR jab, calling for single measles, mumps and rubella
vaccines to be made available to parents immediately.
The surprise move, which contradicts existing public policy, casts
fresh doubt on the wisdom of the health department’s consistent line
that the triple MMR vaccine should be the only option to protect
against the three diseases.
It will also put pressure on the parliament’s Expert Group on
Immunisation to consider recommending single vaccines as an
alternative to the triple jab when it delivers its report, which is
already overdue, next month.
Professor Phil Hanlon, the director of the Public Health Institute of
Scotland (PHIS), is the first high-ranking public health expert to
urge a re-think on the controversial triple jab and his comments are
the starkest confirmation of the divisions within the sector.
Campaigners for the introduction of single vaccines on the National
Health Service predicted that his intervention could mark a
turning-point in their fight.
Prof Hanlon told colleagues at a conference on child health at Heriot
Watt University, in Edinburgh, the single vaccines option should be
considered in the light of falling MMR uptake rates.
He also said that despite repeated insistences by the health
department that MMR is the safest option, public health workers were
privately at odds over the issue.
The professor, who was appointed to the PHIS to help formulate public
health policy, stressed he did not believe there was a link between
MMR and autism.
He told The Scotsman: “I am not questioning the science of MMR and I
do not believe there are issues with its safety. But parents are
concerned and will continue to be concerned until the science issue
settles down. So offering families single vaccines seems logical.’’
He added: “The trouble is that MMR rates are falling and we do not
have single vaccines licensed so there’s an ethical issue.”
He continued: “From the evidence available to us, the MMR vaccine is
safe and there is no proven link to autism or bowel disorders.
“Also, it is clear MMR has played a crucial role in protecting
children against mumps, measles and rubella.
“But I am equally persuaded that the health of children can only be
truly safeguarded when their parents are involved with and are
confident in actions to improve their health.
“The difficulty we face with MMR at the moment is that a significant
proportion of parents are concerned about the safety of the MMR to the
degree that some are unwilling to have their children vaccinated and
many do so with a heavy heart.
“We should remain steadfast in our commitment to MMR but, where
parents resolutely refuse to have their children vaccinated, it might
be acceptable to provide single dose vaccines as a better option than
leaving those children unvaccinated.”
Prof Hanlon said parental concerns had left the scientific debate well
behind: “We should have confidence in the scientific evidence and
allow it to win back public confidence in time. When this happens, the
desire for the multiple jabs option will reduce and MMR will become
the norm.
“However, in the shorter-term, single dose vaccines may have something
to offer.”
His comments come in the wake of the first outbreak of measles in
Scotland in two years. Two children and an adult in Fife were
confirmed with the highly infectious virus earlier this month and
health officials are investigating several further suspected cases.
Prof Hanlon’s statement has been welcomed by parents’ groups who have
been campaigning for choice amid fears of a link between the MMR
vaccine and autism.
Bill Welsh, the chairman of Action Against Autism, said: “Not before
time someone at the highest level in public health is responding to
the concerns of parents. The question remains, however, will the
Expert Group, set up by the executive and loaded with vaccine
placemen, plus doctors with known financial links to the
manufacturers, pay any attention to this shaft of common sense from Dr
Hanlon?
“The minister for health, Malcolm Chisholm, can take no pleasure from
a situation in which his chief medical officer is so out of step not
only with public opinion, but with the views of a leading public
health expert.”
Currently, parents who want the three jabs must pay up to around £280
to have them administered privately.
Last night, Mr Chisholm insisted the triple jab was the safest option.
He said: “All the evidence is that a move to single jabs would greatly
reduce immunity. I accept that one or two public health professionals
may have a different opinion. Prof Hanlon is making a pragmatic
judgement. Most people would make the judgement that MMR is the safest
option.”
An executive spokeswoman added: “Prof Hanlon is entitled to his
opinion but the executive and health professionals are committed to
putting the message across that MMR is safe.”
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