Written question asked by Lord Fearn (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 9 January 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 2 February 2001. It was answered by Yvette Cooper (Labour) on Friday, 2 February 2001 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many requests have been received by doctors in England and Wales for separate vaccinations for (a) measles, (b) mumps and (c) rubella in the last 12 months; and how many of these requests have been granted. - Inc fact that information is not held centrally.

Answer: Mr. Fearn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many requests have been received by doctors in England and Wales for separate vaccinations for (a) measles, (b) mumps and (c) rubella in the last 12 months; and how many of these requests have been granted. [144935] Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally. The policy for protecting children from measles, mumps and rubella is a two dose schedule of the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccines. This is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), and the assessment of the safety of the vaccine by the Committee for the Safety of Medicines. This policy has been endorsed on 12 January 2001 by the British Medical Association, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of Nursing and the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association. Separate doses of single antigen vaccines given at intervals leave children vulnerable to the risk of potentially serious disease. The JCVI advises that there are no benefits from giving the single antigen vaccines compared with the combined vaccine and that a schedule of separate vaccines is less safe than the combined vaccine. It is not the policy of the Department to offer this schedule

Secondary information