§ Dr. BrandTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies he has evaluated which have compared the incidence of side effects suffered as a result of MMR vaccination in different countries. [9489]
§ Ms JowellMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health is advised on immunisation matters by the independent expert advisory committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and on matters concerning the quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines by the Committee on Safety of Medicines.
Assessment of vaccine safety and efficacy can be based on experience in any country using an appropriate population, so long as the vaccine constituents are the 599W same. Studies of vaccine use in other countries can form the basis for authorisation of the product in the United Kingdom. The Department's independent expert advisory committees, on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, have considered a large number of studies looking at the incidence of purported side effects both in the UK and other countries. Information on the safety of single antigen measles and rubella vaccines is also relevant where these components are identical to those in the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Safety studies have therefore been available from the 1960s for these vaccine components.
A list of the published studies considered by the expert advisory committees and by the Department on the incidence of side effects associated with, or suggested to be associated with, MMR vaccination in different countries has been placed in the Library.