Hansard

I am grateful for the chance to contribute to the debate and I support the motion as amended by my colleague Richard Simpson.

The vaccination immunisation programme was first introduced to the United Kingdom in the 18th century from Turkey, and Louis Pasteur’s work on cholera, anthrax and rabies no doubt went a long way towards establishing immunisation and vaccination as important principles in health. Indeed, vaccination has been described as one of the great health achievements of the 20th century.

In that context, it is excellent news that the current Government is achieving a 97 per cent average annual take-up rate, and we should be happy to applaud it. That achievement presents Governments of all hues with the giant challenge of not only maintaining a 97 per cent take-up rate annually, but improving on that figure. At the same time, the introduction of new vaccines for rotavirus, shingles and meningitis adds to the pressure on Government to respond by ensuring that high levels of immunisation are maintained.

Three elements need particular attention if we are to continue our progress. One issue, which has been mentioned, is the workload that staff face. Staff reported workload concerns through NHS Scotland staff surveys last year. A third of nurses and midwives say that conflicting demands make it difficult for them to meet the challenges that they face, and a quarter say that there are not enough staff to enable them to do their job properly. It would be worth while for the minister to comment on that in summing up.

The second element, which was also touched on earlier, is fear. There is no doubt that the controversy over the MMR vaccine resulted in a huge drop in uptake and it has taken officials a great deal of time to try to repair the damage. However, in the context of the 97 per cent take-up rate, a relatively high proportion of 10 to 17-year-olds in Scotland, some of whom are about to enter university, need to be immunised in the Government’s catch-up programmes.

The third challenge that Government in Scotland faces is population movement, to which we need to become attuned. People are moving around the world for economic and social reasons and there is no doubt that other places do not have the luxury that we enjoy here in Scotland in our access to immunisation on an on-going basis.

The draft budget reports indicate a see-sawing of year-on-year figures. For example, £8.8 million will be spent in 2013-14, rising to £16.3 million in 2014-15, but thereafter there will be a fall in some elements, such as immunisation for pandemic flu. I understand that that see-sawing is about the rolling programme of purchasing the necessary medicines that are required, but it would be good to hear from the minister that, in spite of the rises and falls in the budgets, the same numbers of targets are achieved every year and will not be affected.

My final comment is about the shingles vaccine. I have received approaches from a number of constituents who seem to think that if they are not in the 79 or over age group, they cannot access a vaccination. In a number of cases, the constituents were 71 or 72 years of age and felt that they would be exempted for a serious number of years. It would be nice to have clarification on that point.