Hansard

I am pleased to take part in today’s debate. As a father of six children, four of whom are still at school, I am very aware of the immunisations that our young people receive to protect them from illness and infection.

I should also declare an interest, in that I had a number of childhood illnesses, including whooping cough—which I contracted again as an adult—measles and German measles, which children are now routinely vaccinated against. As a sufferer from some respiratory problems now, I also take advantage of the yearly flu jab, which is important for many of our elderly and vulnerable constituents.

All of us today would wish to pay tribute to all the Scottish NHS staff who are involved in delivering our immunisation programme, which is, without doubt, one of the biggest health successes of the past 100 years. We should also today express our gratitude to the scientists whose research has allowed us to have the vaccinations that we often take for granted. We are fortunate to live in the modern world, in which, thanks to immunisation, smallpox and polio, which were formerly so common and did so much damage, are no longer things to be feared. Indeed, the World Health Organization declared smallpox wiped out in December 1979, and Europe was declared free from polio in 2002.

We must never be complacent. We know that it is vital that, in order to maintain progress, uptake rates remain as high as possible. It is reassuring that, for the past decade, uptake rates in children under 24 months for primary courses of immunisation against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Haemophilus influenzae type B and meningitis C, and for PCV, have exceeded the 95 per cent target. Let us hope that that continues and, indeed, let us aim for the highest possible uptakes.

Having said that, I have sympathy with parents who may be concerned that a small percentage of children might be severely affected by types of immunisation, such as that for whooping cough. That concern was brought about by a lot of speculation in the press about MMR and whooping cough vaccines. However, it is important to make the case that some sacrifice must be made, sometimes, for the benefit of the huge majority. Of course, that sacrifice should be kept to an absolute minimum and, if possible, eliminated altogether.

As medical technology becomes ever more advanced, and as new health challenges emerge, it is right and proper that health experts consider what additional immunisations might benefit our people. Therefore, as other members have done, I welcome the recent news that the meningitis B vaccine that is mentioned in Nanette Milne’s amendment is to be introduced into the routine childhood immunisation programme at two, four and 12 months of age. Meningitis B occurs mostly in infants and children under five and is fatal in around 10 per cent of cases, with one in eight cases experiencing serious long-term health problems such as amputation, deafness or epilepsy. It is a real boost to parents’ confidence that children will be protected in future from that terrible disease.

As a farmer, I would like to say a word about the immunisations in the agriculture industry, which have made a great difference with regard to the loss of animals. That is an important measure, and it should be remembered.