News Release

2nd November 2005

CONFUSION OVER FLU VACCINATIONS IN MIDLANDS

Ms Rosie Winterton, Minister of Health, has just told Michael Fabricant in a Parliamentary Answer that "targets are no longer set" for flu vaccinations. Michael had asked the Minister "What percentage of the population at-risk from the effects of catching flu will be inoculated against existing strains of influenza by the end of 2005 in (a) Staffordshire and (b) the West Midlands as a whole." In her answer Ms Winterton said she didn't know, that the system had been changed, and that this would all be done locally to the best of their ability. Her only note of encouragement was "The Chief Medical Officer has said that continued improvement of uptake rates across all groups should be encouraged".

Michael says: "This is an appalling state of affairs. If Avian Flu (Bird flu) mutates as we expect into a type that can be transmitted between humans and a general pandemic occurs, the survival rate will be far higher amongst those whose resistance hasn't been worn first down by catching conventional flu. All people 'at risk' - and that includes the elderly and those with breathing difficulties - should be inoculated. It is very worrying that the Government has changed the system whereby no national targets for inoculation have been set and she has no idea at all as to what percentage of the at-risk population will have been inoculated or even whether enough vaccine is available.