Oct 14 2002
 

By Sam Wonfor, The Journal

Parents are being denied the right to choose single vaccines for their children instead of the controversial MMR jab because of Government import restrictions, a consultant said last night.

Paediatrician Dr Damitha Ratnasinghe was speaking yesterday at the end of Direct Remedies' latest two-day single immunisation clinic at Menzies Hotel, Silverlink, Newcastle, which immunised 120 children over the weekend with single jabs. He said at least 75 children in the North-East were missing out because of restrictions on the import of mumps vaccines.

He spoke as another single jab company, Direct Health 2000, which has immunised more than 30,000 children with the single jabs, said it would start legal action against the Department of Health for restricting availability.

Dr Ratnasinghe says the Government is unfairly restricting the option of single rubella, measles and mumps vaccines as an alternative to the MMR combined vaccine by allowing only 25 doses to be brought into the UK each day for any one importer.

He challenged the Government to lift the restrictions and further called on them to encourage UK drugs companies to produce the single vaccine and eradicate the need for importing.

Direct Health claims restraint of trade as thousands of children are unable to complete their course of vaccinations.

A Health Department spokeswoman said: "The maximum quantity of any unlicensed medicinal product that may be imported per notification is 25 doses. These are not regulations specifically for the single vaccines."

Dr Ratnasinghe said: "There are certainly around 75 children in the North-East who should have had their mumps vaccine by now but because of the restrictions, we simply cannot bring in enough.

"The Government should encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in starting production of single vaccines in the UK. This would help drive down the cost and solve the problem of importing and shortages."

Around 1,000 youngsters across the region have started on a programme of single measles, mumps and rubella jabs, with private clinics following concerns that the triple MMR jab had been linked to autism and bowel disorders.

Leigh and Kevin Scully who set up Direct Remedies said earlier this month they were prepared to wait for mumps vaccines to become available for their 15-month-old son, Taylor.

Yesterday, Leigh, 30, of Tenbury Crescent, North Shields, said: "We have had to turn people away today whose children were due to have the mumps vaccine because we simply have not got any."

Top

Back

 E-mail this article to a friend

Printable version