Blair should tell about MMR - Labour MP

A Labour MP has stepped into the row over the MMR vaccine saying that ministers should show leadership on the issue.

Dr Ian Gibson's comments came after Prime Minister Tony Blair and Health Secretary Alan Milburn refused to comment on the choice they had made for their children.

Whatever we say and do is between the patient and the family doctor and it has to stay like that otherwise patients will lose confidence in the NHS

George Kassianos

The vaccine, for measles, mumps and rubella, has been linked to autism by some researchers - although that claim has been rejected by the health department.

Dr Gibson said that this was an issue over which people were looking to their leaders.

Mr Blair's decision to keep baby son Leo's medical record confidential angered opposition backbenchers on Wednesday.

Health Ministers Jacqui Smith and John Hutton, who both have young children, have also declined to reveal whether they went against government advice by paying for three separate vaccinations.

Of the four-strong government health team only Yvette Cooper has shown her hand, by revealing that her two-year-old daughter had received the MMR jab.

'Protecting privacy'

Responding to criticism that parents had a right to know if ministers personally had confidence in the jab, Ms Smith, who has two young sons, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she wanted to protect her children's privacy.

Jacqui Smith: protecting her children

"They are not elected to Parliament I am - so I will answer for myself and for government policy."

She said she understood people's concerns but latest research showed there was no link between MMR and autism, in line with government advice on the issue.

Some parents have expressed their concerns about the safety of the vaccine and demanded their children be able to receive each vaccine separately.

Ms Smith denied she was taking a 'holier than thou attitude' on the issue.

"I, as a government minister, have ensured that they (parents) can make these choices with all the information available.

"I think that is a perfectly reasonable position to take both as a government minister and a parent of children I want to protect."

That position received the backing of George Kassianos, an immunisation expert from the Royal College of General Practitioners.

"Whatever we say and do is between the patient and the family doctor and it has to stay like that otherwise patients will lose confidence in the NHS," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

'Need to know'

The prime minister voiced his support for the triple vaccine, after pressure from Conservative MP Julie Kirkbride.

I'm not going to enter into any public discussion on the health of my children

Tony Blair

Ms Kirkbride, who was heckled loudly by Labour MPs, said she understood why Mr Blair wanted to keep details of his children's healthcare private.

But with the government mounting a campaign for children to receive the MMR vaccine, there was a legitimate public interest in the issue.

The prime minister told the Commons: "I'm not going to enter into any public discussion on the health of my children."

'Disappointed'

Mr Blair stressed that the government's recommendation that children receive the MMR vaccine was supported by the World Health Organisation, the British Medical Association and other health bodies.

He continued: "We fully support the campaign that is being mounted at the present time."

The latest Medical Research Council findings have concluded that fears that autism was linked to the MMR vaccine were misplaced.

'Nobody's business'

Liberal Democrat health spokesman, Dr Evan Harris. "Mr Blair, Mr Milburn and their colleagues are quite right to protect the confidentiality of their children's medical history.

"It is nobody's business whether the child of a politician, or anyone else, has had the jab or had a contra-indication to the vaccination.

"Anti-MMR MPs like Julie Kirkbride should argue their case on the science and when science does not support their position they should not bring their own or anyone else's children into the argument."