MMR jab 'to be made LAW' as doctors warn UK is at risk of measles epidemic
6 June 2019, 08:14
A leading doctor has spoken out stating that the failing to give your child the MMR jab should be made illegal.
Children should be banned from schools if they haven't been vaccinated against measles, claims Doctor Eleanor Draeger.
Writing in the BMJ, the leading doctor stated that the UK needs to make compulsory MMR jabs LAW as the disease is surging and not enough is being done about it.
She explained: "We would argue that the UK now needs to legislate to increase vaccination rates, as current measures aren’t keeping rates high enough".
And the statistics prove this right: the number of measles cases in Britain more than QUADRUPLED from 2017 to 2018, and it's only set to rise.
In 2017, the number of recorded cases sat at 259, and by 2018 that number had hit a whopping 966.
In the first three months of 2019, a ginormous 231 cases were reported in England alone - but vaccination rates are dropping rapidly.
Read more: Why are some people still refusing to get the MMR jab?
At the moment the rate sits at 87.2 per cent, which according to Dr Draeger, isn't enough to provide widespread immunity.
Nine other countries in Europe have made the jab a legal requirement, including France and Italy, and the expert doctor believes we should follow suit.
Draeger explained: "Some 30 per cent more kids had been vaccinated in Italy since the law was changed there.
"Legislation in Australia has also led to thousands more having the jab", she said.
She added: “many parents wrongly believe the rhetoric that vaccines are harmful, unnatural and an infringement of civil liberties”, a no jab, no school rule would give parents freedom of choice, while protecting other youngsters from infection".
Dr David Elliman from London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, told the BMJ that the UK should concentrate on making it easier for children to get immunised.
He said: “Only when these components are in place should we consider mandatory vaccination.”
Currently, the MMR jab is free for adults and kids on the NHS.
It's important to have two doses to have full cover against measles, mumps and rubella and the jabs can be given a month apart.
