Appointment availability is behind huge number of missed measles vaccinations, PHE expert says | News

A senior epidemiologist at Public Health England (PHE) has said that it is unlikely that children in the United States will be vaccinated.

The UK has the third highest number of children who are not vaccinated against the disease among high-income countries included in the report. The United States has the most, with 2.5 million unvaccinated children, followed by France at 608,000 unvaccinated children.

UNICEF cited lack of access to medicine, poor health systems, complacency and, "in some cases, fear or skepticism about vaccines" for the fact that global uptake of the first dose of measles vaccine has remained constant around 85% for a decade .

Some senior health figures in the UK have blamed 'anti-vaxers' for low immunization rates, with Simon Stevens, chief executive at NHS England, describing vaccine rejection as a "serious and growing public health timebomb", and Matt Hanbad, the health and social care secretary, writing on Twitter that "social media companies must act to stop dangerous anti-vax messages spreading online".

Vaccines protect us and your children from awful diseases – social media companies must act to stop dangerous vax messages spreading online pic.twitter.com/TkFUgab1us

– Matt Hanbad (@MattHanbad) April 25, 2019

But Jamie Lopez Bernal, a consultant epidemiologist in the Immunization and Countermeasures Division at PHE told The Pharmaceutical Journal: "While vaccine hesitancy may be a factor for a small minority of parents, we know that parental confidence is high in the immunization program. at an all-time low for the past three years. "

"Timing, availability and location of appointments have been identified as barriers to vaccination by parents and healthcare providers."

Lady Parveen Kumar, chair of the British Medical Association's board of science, described the UNICEF figures as "incredibly concerning" and said accessibility to vaccination was key to boost take-up rates.

"Crucially, to increase immunization rates, there must be easy access to facilities for all parts of the population to receive protection," she explained.

"For this purpose, it is necessary to provide sufficient funding to deliver fully resourced services, be it in general practice, the community or through local authorities."

The UNICEF report also shows that the number of cases measured increased by 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. And it shows that an estimated 110,000 people – most of them children – died from measles in 2017 This is a 22% increase on 2016.

Meanwhile the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has written to PHE complaining that it ignored the contribution that pharmacists make in vaccination services in its latest campaign to mark European Immunization Week.

Ravi Sharma, director of England at the RPS, said in the letter to PHE chief executive Duncan Selbie, that he was "disappointed" that the campaign did not refer to pharmacists as vaccination providers.

He wrote: "This is our role in providing vaccinations on a large scale through the NHS national community pharmacy flu vaccination service, travel vaccines and other forms of immunization.

"Pharmacists are also vaccinating heroes and playing a central part in supporting immunization plans and delivery. We very much hope that future campaigns will be made to include the frontline profession of pharmacy and promote the vital role that pharmacists play in the field of immunization. "

Quote: The Pharmaceutical Journal, online, online |

DOI: 10.1211 / PJ.2019.20206471