AAny parent knows that there is nothing more disruptive to family life than a child covered head to toe in itchy chickenpox spots. Sleepless nights. Constant use of calamine lotion. Try to take time off from work while your baby is recovering.
That's why today's expansion of the NHS childhood vaccination program will come as a relief to many families. The new combination vaccine, sold free by the NHS, will protect young children in England against chickenpox (chickenpox), measles, mumps and rubella. Children will be offered MMRV vaccine at 12 and 18 months, and GPs in England are contacting families to arrange appointments from today. This will mean fewer days missed from daycare and school, fewer urgent calls to the GP and fewer parents having to miss work.
Research shows that half of children develop chickenpox by age four, and 90% by age 10. Although most cases resolve on their own, chickenpox costs families and the wider economy an estimated £24 million a year in lost income and productivity. This new vaccine will help significantly reduce this burden.
But beyond the practical benefits, this implementation is aimed at something more serious. Chickenpox is often considered a mild childhood illness, but it can lead to serious complications requiring hospitalization, including bacterial infections such as group A streptococcus, pneumonia and encephalitis. Even in recent years there have been cases that left children on morphine in hospitaland others get pneumonia and joint infections – and even seriously flesh-eating diseases.
The MMRV combination vaccine has been used safely for decades and is already part of routine vaccination programs in several countries. USA, Canada, Australia and Germany everyone saw a significant decrease cases of chickenpox and hospitalizations since the rollout of their programs. Only in the USA is the vaccine prevented approximately 91 million cases of chickenpox over 25 years, as well as 238,000 hospitalizations and nearly 2,000 deaths.
The evidence is clear: vaccines work. They prevent millions of deaths all over the world every year. Diseases such as smallpox, polio and tetanus, which once killed or maimed millions of people, have either disappeared over the past 50 years or are now extinct. very rarely seen.
In this government 10 Year Health Planwe set out how we support parents in raising the healthiest generation of children, shifting the focus of public health from disease to prevention and strengthening public trust in vaccinations. At a time when misinformation spreads rapidly online, it is more important than ever that people can trust medical science and the researchers, analysts and doctors who follow the facts. In some countries, it is clear that access to vaccines and accurate information about them was limitedWith ordinary people pay the price.
Building trust is why I resist so much rhetoric that ignores scientific evidence about the excellent safety and effectiveness profile of the vaccines.
People may always have questions or want to know more about why vaccines are important; that's why we regularly make sure that people have current informationand make sure that experienced doctors in the media explain why they are safe.
But the doubt and misinformation sowed even by politicians who should have known better, such as Nigel Farage and senior reform figuresundermine public health. Worse, they undermine people's trust in our health service.
In Britain we are lucky to have a healthcare system based on clinical excellence and peerless research. Today's vaccine introduction based on decades of scientific evidence. By reducing the number of severe cases and complications, the program is expected to save the NHS around £15 million a year in treatment costs. But most importantly, this will help protect thousands children from serious illness.
