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Now Labour plans to ban children from school unless they have an MMR jab
Last updated at 16:37pm on 12.05.08
Slump: Immunisation rates have fallen
Under Labour plans, primary schools will have to demand proof from parents that their children have had the triple vaccine before they are allowed to register.
The proposal, drawn up by the MP in charge of the party's health manifesto for the next election, has outraged doctors' leaders, who call it "Stalinist" and counterproductive.
If approved, it could see almost 100,000 children barred each year from schools in England and Wales based on current vaccination rates.
Last night the Tories accused Labour of playing politics with children's lives, warning that such "authoritarianism" would alienate parents.
Under the scheme suggested by Mary Creagh, the head of Labour's manifesto group on public health, parents would have to provide a certificate to prove that their children had the full range of jabs against measles, mumps and rubella.
Children under two would also be vaccinated each year against flu and have additional jabs to protect against chicken pox and winter vomiting virus.
Schools currently do not have to ask parents if their child has had the MMR jab and it is up to school nurses to check records.
But under the plans, parents would have to declare what jabs their toddler had had.
Children who had missed vaccinations would be forced to attend a "catch-up" session before schools starts.
Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children could face penalties.
In the U.S. parents are threatened with jail if their offspring are not immunised.
Mrs Creagh will outline her plans this week in the Fabian Review, the quarterly magazine of left-wing think-tank the Fabian Society.
In the magazine, the MP for Wakefield said: "We have vaccination rates as low as 11 per cent in parts of London and cases of measles, mumps and rubella are rising sharply.
"Labour should imitate the successful-U.S. model to ensure no lowincome child was unvaccinated.
"There, children can only start school after proof of vaccination has been supplied by parents - except on religious and medical grounds."
There has been a sharp decline in the take-up of the triple vaccine because of fears that it could be linked to autism.
The research supporting this claim has since been debunked by leading scientists but some parents have turned to expensive private clinics and had the jabs done separaretly.
In such cases parents could have to provide the separate vaccination certificates.
Mrs Creagh suggests expanding the NHS programme which already immunises toddlers against MMR, diphtheria, whoopping cough, tetanus, polio, meningitis and pneumonia.
Chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr Hamish Meldrum claims forcing parents to have their children inoculated is "morally and ethically dubious".
He said a "Stalinist approach" would backfire.
It is understood that the idea has not yet been discussed with the Prime Minister and last night Labour insisted it had no plans for compulsory vaccination.
Reader views (5)
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It always amazes me that, people who are free to think aren't free thinking people. Don't blindly believe unless you have done the research yourself - look at the child mortality rate in the uk, check the stats our for these "deadly" diseases....you may find that the FACTS speak for themselves. Our children are more likely to go missing or abducted than have any damage from these diseases.... health is not a given its a gift.... treasure it. If you look at the FACTS.... before vaccines the diseases were already on the decrease, but money had already been spent, as now and the vaccines have to be used.... so our child's education is comprimised......as an attempt to cover up the vaccine mountain. Is mother nature so incompetent?
- Jd, Bath
It's nice that, living in a developed nation, we have the luxury of being able to choose whether or not to vaccinate our children. Millions of children in poor countries who can't afford vaccines are dying unnecessarily from diseases that were wiped out decades ago in the developed world. Do you ever hear of anyone dying from mumps or rubella these days? Plenty would believe me, if all parents were stuck in the Dark Ages. And if developing countries - where children die from diarrhoea, for God's sake, let alone measles - had vaccines maybe they'd have life expectancies beyond middle age. A child in London died from diphtheria and it made the news last week - that's how rare it is in the UK. The threat from various forms meningitis has now been largely eliminated thanks to - yes - the evil that is vaccination! As someone who nearly died of meningitis B many years ago as a child I think that's pretty important. A child's immune system is strong - it has to be, as they are exposed to numerous bugs and pathogens simply going about their everyday lives - and can easily cope with combined vaccines; that is a scientific FACT. The scientific community is trying to find new vaccines every day so that more child deaths can be prevented. Only in the fat, complacent West would we actually think that is a bad thing
- Ljw, london
We moved to France last summer. Our eldest daughter, at 3 and a half years, was not allowed to start school until she saw a doctor and we were given a certificate to show all of her vaccinations were up to date, including having had the MMR.
If your child contracts measles from a school friend, who are you going to blame? The parents of the child it was caught from because they didn't have their child vaccinated, or yourselves because you didn't vaccinate your own child?
I believe parents are still able to have the measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations done as separate injections privately in the UK over a period of time if they so wish. Surely it's better to err on the side of caution?
- Bill, France
17°c
