§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will outline in the OFFICIAL REPORT the categories of children at risk when they are immunised;
(2) if he is satisfied that all parents are aware of the possibilities of adverse reactions when their children are immunised;
(3) if he is satisfied that all children are adequately screened for possible allergies before being vaccinated;
(4) if he is satisfied that proper care is taken in the vaccination procedures under the National Health Service.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information: Guidance to doctors about the hazards associated with different immunisation procedures and about the circumstances in which vaccination and immunisation are contra-indicated is given in the Standing Medical Advisory Committee's Memorandum on Immunisation against Infectious Diseases. It is for the individual doctor to satisfy himself before offering vaccination to a child that no such contra-indications exist in each case.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why he has not yet instituted a scheme of compensation for vaccine-damaged children.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; 66W Vol. 867 c. 360], circulated the following information: I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on the subject of compensation on 17th January.—[Vol. 867, c. 176.]
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what study he has made of the six European countries' schemes for compensation to vaccine-damaged children.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
I am aware, through information exchanged on the Public Health Committee of the Council of Europe and otherwise, of compensation schemes that have been introduced in European countries; and am keeping in touch with developments in this field.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what steps he has taken to establish the actual number of children who have been damaged by vaccines;
(2) if he will take steps to institute a comprehensive statistical study of the adverse effects of vaccines;
(3) if he will take steps to ensure that all local authorities report to him suspected cases of vaccine damage.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
The available information is mainly derived from reports of adverse reactions received by the Committee on Safety of Medicines from medical practitioners.
I am considering whether any steps could be taken to secure more precise information on this matter.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will now estimate the number of children who have been damaged by vaccines since they became routine;
(2) what evidence he has for his statement, in a letter to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, South on 20th November 1973, that the incidence of severe reactions to vaccinating healthy children is small.
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§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
It is possible from the clinical experience of doctors in this and other countries to state that the incidence of severe reactions to vaccines by children is small, and this is confirmed by reports given by doctors to the Committee on Safety of Medicines. But it is not possible to make a quantitative estimate covering all children affected.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many children under five years of age, in each of the last five years, developed whooping cough after being vaccinated; and what proportion they were of all children vaccinated against whooping cough;
(2) how many children under five years of age, in each of the last five years, developed whooping cough and were not vaccinated against it; and what proportion they were of all children who got whooping cough.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following reply:
I regret that this information is not available.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) why he is not wholly satisfied with the proportion of adverse reactions to vaccines reported by doctors;
(2) if he is satisfied that the Committee on Safety of Medicines is well informed about adverse reactions to vaccinated children.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
The impression gained from experience of the system of reporting of adverse reactions to medicinal products generally is that the majority of adverse reactions are not reported, although it appears that under-reporting is less marked with the more severe reactions.
The responsibility for identifying and reporting reactions must rest with individual 68W doctors and the Committee on Safety of Medicines, and I will continue to urge them to make more reports.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services to what cause he attributes damage to children damaged by vaccines.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
In many cases the precise mechanism by which the damage is caused is unknown.
The number of cases of permanent damage resulting from the use of licensed vaccines is very small. No consistent pattern has ever been found relating severe damage to any single batch of vaccine or to any clear-cut property of the vaccine.
In the past during the early stages to development of attenuated measles vaccine it was suspected that the vaccine virus may not have been sufficiently attenuated. This possibility is unlikely to arise at present with the extended system of control exercised under the Medicines Act.
Some children have underlying conditions which may predispose to adverse reactions following certain vaccines e.g. a history of fits may predispose to encephalopathy following whooping cough vaccine and eczema or a history of eczema may predispose to eczema vaccinatum following smallpox vaccination.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the standards of all vaccines used by the National Health Service.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
Yes. The manufacture of all vaccines, including those imported, for human use is controlled by a system of licensing under Part I of the Therapeutic Substances Act 1956 and the Medicines Act 1968. Regulations made under the Therapeutic Substances Act lay down stringent requirements relating to the quality and the testing of vaccines which licensees must observe.
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§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice he gives to medical officers of health about means of identifying adverse reactions to vaccines.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his Answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
Whenever new vaccination procedures are introduced the attention of all doctors including medical officers of health is drawn to the possibility of specific reactions. Current guidance is summarised in the Standing Medical Advisory Committee's Memorandum on Immunisation against Infectious Disease a copy of which I recently sent to the hon. Member.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if the terms of reference of the Royal Commission on Civil Liability and Personal Injury allow it to recommend retrospective compensation to children damaged by vaccines.
§ Mr. Alison,pursuant to his Answer [OFFICIAL REPORT, 24th January 1974; Vol. 867, c. 360], circulated the following information:
I would refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 19th December 1972—[Vol. 848, c. 1119–25.] It is, of course, for the Royal Commission to interpret its terms of reference.