Number of children given MMR jab misses targets

Published on Wednesday 28 March 2007 00:15

NOT enough children are being given the MMR vaccine in Scotland, according to latest figures.

Official statistics for 2006 showed that 92.1 per cent of two-year-olds were given the jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella.

That is an increase from the previous year, when the figure was 89.9 per cent, but it remains below the national target of 95 per cent.

None of Scotland's health boards met that target in 2006 - although in Dumfries and Galloway 94.8 per cent of two-year-olds received the MMR vaccine over the course of the year. The uptake rate was lowest in Orkney, where 84.4 per cent of that age group were immunised.

MMR was introduced in 1988, but levels of uptake began to fall away after 1998, when a controversial study suggested the triple vaccine was linked to autism.

After a widespread public information offensive from health professionals vouching for its safety, uptake is now increasing again.

The figures showed that the target immunisation rate of 95 per cent was met for all other diseases last year, with 97.9 per cent of two-year-olds protected against diphtheria, tetanus and polio, 97.8 per cent given the whooping cough vaccine, 97.6 per cent vaccinated against haemophilus influenza type B and 97 per cent immunised against meningitis C.

An Executive spokeswoman said ministers were working with experts to provide parents with information on the MMR vaccine.