No jabs, no school says Labour MP

[[R_H]]

No jabs, no school says Labour MP

Children who have not received all their vaccinations should not be allowed to start school, a Labour MP has suggested.

Speaking in the left-wing Fabian Society magazine, Mary Creagh said the move would increase the uptake of the controversial MMR vaccine.

In the same article, public health expert Sir Sandy Macara suggests linking child benefits to vaccinations.

The government says it has no plans to introduce compulsory vaccinations.

Fears over MMR

Public confidence in vaccination, and in MMR particularly, fell after research raised the possibility that the jab may be linked to an increased risk of autism.

The research has since been debunked, and a string of studies have concluded that the triple vaccine - which protects against rubella and mumps as well as measles - is perfectly safe.

But immunisation rates are still well below the 95% needed for so-called "herd immunity" and are particularly low in London.

As a result there have been several outbreaks of measles.

Ms Creagh said primary schools should be compelled to demand proof that children had been given the full range of routine jabs - including MMR - before they could register.

The MP for Wakefield, who is also in charge of drawing up the Labour party's public health manifesto for the next election, said the sanction had been used in the US.

She said: "The MMR vaccination rate is at 85% and the target figure is 95%, so it's about catching children who may have moved or lost contact with their health visitor but also saying to parents your child has a right to live free from vaccine preventable diseases."

She also said there would be exceptions where children could not be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons.

"In lots of cities now they are offering catch-up MMR for five-year olds and there's a high take-up - a lot of anxiety has gone away and it offers parents another opportunity," she said.

'Morally dubious'

Sir Sandy Macara, ex-chairman of the British Medical Association, said in many developing countries immunisation rates were higher than in the UK even though they had poorer access to healthcare.

"People here have become a bit blase and they worry more about rare possible risks of vaccination rather than the diseases they prevent," he said.

"One ought to recognise that mothers have a responsibility for ensuring their children are protected."

He said linking vaccination to child benefit would ensure full vaccine coverage and make the argument that it was being done for the public good rather than for the benefit of individuals.

"Politicians are much more anxious than they would admit about 'nanny state' accusations but they should be more worried about being accused of negligence," he said.

British Medical Association Chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum described the proposals as "Stalinist" and said forcing parents to have their children inoculated was "morally and ethically dubious".

"A Stalinist approach like this would be likely to backfire on an unprecedented scale and increase opposition to vaccinations," he told the Sunday Telegraph.

Jackie Fletcher of pressure group Jabs was against both proposals.

"It's only six months since a big public consultation by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics which we contributed to and they concluded there was no reason to change the voluntary system," she said.

"At the same time as this was published in the UK there was a huge furore in the US as parents were threatened with hefty fines and jail unless they vaccinated their children before entry into school.

"Is this really the direction we want to go in?"

Joff McGill, of Sense, the national rubella charity said: "Sense believes that in the current environment compulsory vaccination would lead to more people challenging immunisation and so less children being vaccinated."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said they wanted to see a continued improvement in the uptake of the MMR vaccine, adding that "vaccination in this country is voluntary".

Why is the immunisation rate particularily low in London? And why the fuck are they allowing exceptions for religious "reasons"?

[KlavoHunter]

Why is the immunisation rate particularily low in London? And why the fuck are they allowing exceptions for religious "reasons"?

I imagine it's because of their "multicultural society" they're trying to build. Which, of course, has to accommodate the backwards fucktards who fear science and doctors.

[Wyrm]

Makes me want to hijack all the TV stations in the world, dress up like the Almighty, and with expensive CG effects, declare in my booming, electronically-enhanced holy voice, "I didn't give faith to you for idiots like you to use it as an excuse for not using your brains! I gave them to you for a reason! Get your children vaccinated, Me-dammit!"

[Kanastrous]

You'd be instantly recognized as a fraud, since you're advising people to use their brains rather than mindlessly follow your prophets.

[weemadando]

I hope that this comes through. I really do, we need this kind of legislation everywhere.

[DaveJB]

It never ceases to amaze me how people continue to hold off on the MMR jab due to some vague, unproven link between the jab and autism, and yet are quite happy to expose their children to the very real risk of being left dead or crippled for life by measles.

[K. A. Pital]

Look, Stalin mass-vaccinated people!

Nevermind that this actually resulted in greater life expectancy and national health! Nevermind that the USSR managed at one time to exceed the United States in life expectancy - 69 years.

It's "stalinist" and therefore wrong. Bad. Evil.

Fucktard idiots, all I can say.

[Hillary]

Why is the immunisation rate particularily low in London? And why the fuck are they allowing exceptions for religious "reasons"?

I imagine it's because of their "multicultural society" they're trying to build. Which, of course, has to accommodate the backwards fucktards who fear science and doctors.

I'd say it has more to do with the fact that the PM and half of the cabinet are religious retards. Not quite as much as Tony Blair, but still bad. Hence our relentless drive towards more single-denomination schools - how well that's served Britain & Northern Ireland.