Farce over flu jabs
THE Health Secretary is already bereft of public – and political – confidence over his NHS reforms. Now Andrew Lansley faces the damaging accusation that his decision to cancel a public health campaign has exacerbated, in part, the rise in swine flu fatalities.
John Healey, the Yorkshire MP and Labour’s health spokesman, is right to level the charge – and, specifically, ask Mr Lansley to outline the lessons that he has learned from the worrying increase in deaths, particularly amongst young people, that can be attributed to the virus.
The Wentworth MP is right to do so. As the Health Protection Agency revealed yesterday, only half of all adults eligible for the jab last winter took up the offer of vaccination – and just one third of pregnant women, one of the most at risk groups, were inoculated.
This appraisal suggests better public health information is one of the keys to countering swine flu and the Department of Health should recognise this.