← Back to House of Commons Debates
Measles
22 January 2024
Lead MP
Maria Caulfield
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
NHSBenefits & WelfareChildren & Families
Other Contributors: 11
At a Glance
Maria Caulfield raised concerns about measles in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
The UK Health Security Agency has declared a national standard incident due to an increase in confirmed measles cases. The World Health Organisation recommends at least 95% coverage for the MMR vaccine, but current figures show 89.3% first-dose coverage and 84.5% second-dose coverage among children under five years old. This decline over ten years is attributed to factors like Dr Andrew Wakefield's discredited paper on MMR risks, missed routine vaccinations during the pandemic, and community concerns about vaccine types. Over the past year, NHS has proactively contacted parents of unvaccinated children aged five and younger, leading to a 10% increase in vaccination rates. However, nearly 3.5 million children under 16 remain unprotected. Measles is highly infectious and can lead to hospitalisation for one in five infected children. The NHS plans to send out over one million letters to parents across London and the Midlands, set up extra clinics by GPs, pop-up clinics in schools, and vaccine buses targeting communities with low vaccination rates.
Preet Kaur Gill
Lab Co-op
Birmingham Edgbaston
Question
The shadow MP questions the Government's complacency and inaction, citing a rise of 120% in measles cases over the past year. She expresses concern about the failure to maintain vaccination rates despite warning signs since five years ago when WHO declared measles eradicated.
Minister reply
Minister Maria Caulfield reminds that health is devolved across the UK and acknowledges efforts made by the Government to increase vaccination rates, including proactive outreach to communities with specific concerns such as non-porcine vaccines for religious reasons. She highlights the importance of overcoming vaccine hesitancy and the need for all MPs to help spread awareness.
Steve Brine
Con
St Ives
Question
In April last year, the UK Health Security Agency told the Health and Social Care Committee that it was 'expecting measles to come back', while the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation told us that the threat was 'very real'. Last summer, as the Minister knows, we published a vaccination report as part of our prevention inquiry. We were pleased that, in answer to a recommendation, NHS England published its vaccination strategy just before Christmas. Can the Minister say more about how she will inject more urgency into the roll-out, and will she commit, as we also asked, to a much more flexible delivery model for vaccinations, including through pharmacy?
Minister reply
The Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee is right. That is why we have met with both the west midlands and the London teams to hear from those on the ground what resources they need in order to become more nimble in the vaccine roll-out. The communities that are not coming forward are the ones that are not engaging with the routine MMR vaccine programme, so we need to be more nimble, which is why we are hearing from those vaccinating on the ground about vaccine buses going into communities, pop-up clinics in schools, and GPs putting on extra vaccine clinics. From our data, we have a list of the children who are unvaccinated, and more than a million letters have gone out to their parents to urge them to come forward.
Debbie Abrahams
Lab
Oldham East and Saddleworth
Question
There are clear inequalities in vaccination uptake, including MMR, which reflect various socioeconomic inequalities. What extra support is being given to those areas, and to places such as mine, and why, as the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee suggests, was the risk assessment of the UK Health Security Agency seemingly ignored by the Government?
Minister reply
I can assure the hon. Lady that it was not ignored by the Government. Over the past 12 months, we have been pushing vaccinations to those who have not come forward, and to communities that struggle with vaccination uptake, which is why in the past 12 months there has been a 10% increase. As I say, that is not enough. There are still people who need to come forward for vaccination who have not done so.
Desmond Swayne
Con
New Forest West
Question
Might vaccination rates benefit from a much more generous compensation scheme for the very small number of severe adverse reactions?
Minister reply
We have a vaccine damage payment scheme, which provides a one-off payment of £120,000. That is accessible for any vaccine that someone takes up, but I have to say that part of the problem is misleading information about the safety of vaccines. The measles vaccine is safe.
Daisy Cooper
Lib Dem
St Albans
Question
During the covid pandemic, my constituency of St Albans had one of the highest rates of vaccination. That was, in part, because of the work of our GPs and pharmacists, but we were also incredibly proactive at recruiting community champions, who could have those vital conversations to tackle hesitancy within particular pockets of our community. The Minister has mentioned pop-up clinics and vans, but she has not mentioned the role of community champions. Will she work with and support the directors of public health to recruit those community champions, who can have those vital conversations so that people can put their questions to people they know and trust?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady is right that we used community champions during covid. We had some particularly effective campaigns for those communities that do not traditionally come forward for vaccinations, and that was done by using community leaders, faith leaders and trusted organisations within communities.
Maggie Throup
Con
Erewash
Question
My hon. Friend has an important message today because, after clean water, vaccines are the most impactful public health measure we have and, without a doubt, they save lives. One of the lessons we learned through the pandemic was that the most effective way to reach hard-to-reach communities is through faith and community leaders and to take the vaccines to those communities, whether that is to mosques or temples. Will she do whatever she can to ensure that we employ the same measures this time and take the vaccines to the communities and not expect the communities to go to the vaccines? Will she also consider reaching out to those fantastic vaccinators we had during the covid pandemic, who are highly trained to deliver vaccines to all age groups, and getting them on board to get the MMR vaccinations carried out as quickly as possible?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I pay tribute to the work she did during the covid pandemic to roll out the vaccine programme to those community groups. That had such an effective reach for something we were struggling with previously, and she worked hard on that.
Clive Efford
Lab
Eltham
Question
Does the Minister accept that the reduction in the number of health professionals who support parents has contributed to the reduction in the number of parents presenting their children for the MMR vaccine, and that that is one of the lessons we should learn from this situation?
Minister reply
I would not agree with the hon. Gentleman. We have plenty of vaccine—that is one of the messages we want to get out—and that is both the traditional MMR vaccine and the non-porcine vaccine.
Florence Eshalomi
Lab/Co-op
Vauxhall
Question
Every time my six-year-old comes home coughing, I get a bit scared because, obviously, measles is highly contagious. It is important that we get the message out about the way it is passed on through coughs, sneezes and high fevers. The Minister has outlined a range of areas where the Government are trying to get that message out, but the fact is that they are fighting against a system where a number of the hesitancy messages are shared in closed groups—groups that are getting that message out to parents and carers who will not come forward. Will the Minister outline what the Government are doing to counter that and to give people an informed choice on the vaccine, so that they come forward with their children?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady is quite right that there is vaccine hesitancy, and that is a key reason why uptake has dropped so significantly across all groups, but more in some groups than in others.
Pontypridd
Question
The Minister is right to point out that one reason for the decline in people coming forward to take up the MMR vaccine is the rise of dis- and misinformation about the vaccine—not just online, but, sadly, perpetrated in this House. The Online Safety Act 2023 does very little to tackle online dis- and misinformation and to keep people safe. What is the purpose of the Government’s counter disinformation unit? Why is there no transparency on what that unit is supposedly doing, and when will the Government stand up to the social media platforms and stop them proliferating this dis- and misinformation and profiting from something that is causing real-world harm?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady has a point that part of the vaccine hesitancy is due to misinformation about vaccines more generally.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Question
The MP thanks the Minister for her response and recalls receiving his measles vaccination in a school setting. He notes that pre-school vaccinations have been declining, with MMR vaccine rates falling from 96% to 90% in Northern Ireland between 2012 and 2022. Jim Shannon suggests that there is an emerging crisis and proposes a joint approach across the UK to ensure better vaccination coverage and protection for children.
Minister reply
The Minister agrees with the MP's suggestion, stating that a joined-up approach across all four corners of the United Kingdom would be welcome to achieve better MMR coverage. She acknowledges that Northern Ireland has similar rates as England at 89% and emphasises the importance of working together to eradicate measles.
Shadow Comment
Preet Kaur Gill
Shadow Comment
Acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, Preet Kaur Gill highlights that measles cases have risen by 120% in the past year alone and questions the Government's complacency. She requests information on steps taken to prevent a national outbreak and criticises the failure to maintain vaccination rates despite warning signs since five years ago when WHO declared measles eradicated. Gill also points out that it took ten days for her team to receive briefing materials after requesting them, questioning whether the Government has been asleep or learned any lessons from the pandemic.
▸
Assessment & feedback
Summary accuracy
About House of Commons Debates
House of Commons debates take place in the main chamber of the House of Commons. These debates cover a wide range of topics including government policy, legislation, and current affairs. MPs from all parties can participate, question ministers, and hold the government accountable for its decisions.