The Petition of Dr Christopher Turner, Mrs Gillian Turner, Mr Peter Styles, Mrs Julia Styles, Mr Peter Skoulding, Mrs Julie Skoulding, Miss Lucy Skoulding and others

Declares that the most common cause of meningitis in the UK is bacterial meningitis caused by a meningococcal group B infection; further that the Petitioners believe meningitis and meningococcal disease are greatly feared by both doctors and parents; further that the disease strikes without warning, can be difficult to diagnose in the early stages, and can lead to at worst death of a child or teenager within 24 hours from the onset of mild symptoms or severe disabilities including loss of limbs, deafness, blindness and mental changes in survivors; further that in addition to hospitalisation costs to the NHS involving intensive care sometimes for extended periods of time, it is estimated that the cost for care of each survivor is £3 million during their remaining lifetime; further that in addition, litigation claims to the NHS for clinical negligence in respect of meningitis B run into millions of pounds annually; further that the introduction into the Childhood Immunisation Programme of Haemophilus influenzae B, meningococcal C, and pneumococcal vaccines has been highly successful in almost eradicating these causes of meningitis; further that in contrast, the Meningitis B vaccine (Bexcero) received its licence in January 2013 but has been denied by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for NHS patients; further that it is available for those parents wealthy enough to pay privately at a cost of £75 to £125 per injection; further that two injections are normally required; further that the vaccine manufacturer has offered significantly reduced, but unspecified, prices to the NHS; further that whilst the number of cases of meningitis B vary from year to year, it is reported that in 2010 there were 1870 cases, that is five families affected each day; further that the death rate ranges from 5 to 10 per cent of cases; further that disabilities are reported to occur in 20 to 30 per cent of survivors; further that the sum of this failure to implement meningitis B vaccination on the NHS is a significant burden on taxpayers and the national exchequer in both the short and long term, notwithstanding the effects on individual families and the cost to them both in monetary and psychological terms; and further that taking a median figure of 25 per cent with residual disability at £3 million pounds each, the cost to the Exchequer reaches £140 million pounds per annum and this is likely to be an underestimate when family factors are taken into consideration.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Department of Health to introduce meningitis B vaccine for all on the NHS.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.]

[P001365]