Shropshire MMR jab uptake is at decade-high levels
Parents in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin are leading the way as the proportion of children having the MMR jab reached its highest level for more than a decade.
Figures released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) today showed across England just over 91 per cent of children under the age of two received the first dose of the vaccine between 2011 and 2012.
But in Shropshire that figure was more than 95 per cent – roughly 2,750 children – while in Telford & Wrekin more than 96 per cent, more than 2,200 children, were vaccinated.
These figures mean that the county is meeting the target of 95 per cent of children being vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella, set by the World Health Organisation – although national averages are still below that goal.
HSCIC chief executive Tim Straughan said: "Our annual figures have tracked the course of immunisation coverage for several vaccines for children over the years, including that for measles, mumps and rubella.
"Today's report marks a significant point in the continued rise of MMR coverage since it hit a low in 2003-04 as for the first time in 14 years nine out of 10 children in England have had the MMR vaccine before they turn two.
"However, although MMR coverage at two years has risen in all regions of England, and overall the country's coverage has increased in recent years, the national figure remains below the WHO target of at least 95 per cent."
The uptake of the vaccination programme has varied over the past two decades. Many parents shied away from giving their children the jab following the publication of a potential link between the vaccination and autism and Crohn's disease. However, the study that initiated the controversy has since been discredited.
By Pam Griffin