February was characterised by heart-breaking stories of loss from meningitis, but the overwhelming support for a petition to make the Meningitis B vaccine available to all children under 11 also sparked hope.
Sadly, however, that hope has been dashed today, after the British Government announced its rejection of the petition based on the grounds that making the Men B vaccine available to all children under 11 years would be too expensive.
Despite the fact that the petition had clocked up 800,000 signatures, the Department of Health said that such a campaign is “not cost effective”.
The Department came to the decision based upon the advice of its Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
The statement read:
“With this programme, our priority is to protect those children most at risk of Men B, in line with JCVI's recommendation.
"The NHS budget is a finite resource, it is therefore essential that JCVI's recommendations are underpinned by evidence of cost-effectiveness.
"Offering the vaccine outside of JCVI's advice would not be cost effective, and would not therefore represent a good use of NHS resources which should be used to benefit the health and care of the most people possible."
As you can imagine, the decision has prompted outcry on social media, with many people insisting that the fight isn’t over.
@David_Cameron disgusted by comments and out come of men b vaccine petition! More cost effective to let our children die!? #totalletdown
— Anne-Marie Kean (@KeanoBeano13oh) March 2, 2016
Govt disregard men b vaccine for all petition, yet second £45k per plane per hour over Syria? How come @ben4bath @murrisonMP ?
— Dave Sawyer (@DaveSawyer74) March 2, 2016
Frustrating. But with over 800k signatures causing this discussion, the Men B jab debate won’t go away quietly. https://t.co/Ccgh7JXxPS
— Tom Harrod (@tomharrod) March 2, 2016
“Disgusted by comments and outcome of the Men B vaccine petition! More cost effective to let our children die?” wrote one frustrated tweeter.
What are your thoughts?
