§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons the promise by the Minister for Public Health to write to the hon. Member for Lewes following the debate on 28 March concerning bovine materials in vaccines had not been met by 14 November. [138924]
§ Yvette CooperI am sorry that I have not been able to reply to the hon. Member earlier. I wanted to make sure that the information I sent was accurate and helpful. That has taken longer than expected. My written reply of 23 October 2000,Official Report, column 78W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Ms King), said that the MCA had advised that information provided by the manufacturers of the oral polio had been inaccurate and in that reply, I corrected some of the information given during the debate in Westminster Hall on 28 March. In the light of the new information we are also reviewing the advice given to Ministers on this issue to ensure that all the information given to Parliament is correct. I also asked the Committee on Safety of Medicines earlier this year to produce a comprehensive assessment of BSE-related issues in vaccines. We are committed to publishing the assessment.