Sheridan MMR reform defeat

Mr Sheridan said concerns should be addressed

An attempt by Scottish Socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan to give parents the option of single vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella has been defeated.

The Glasgow MSP urged single vaccines to be made available on the National Health Service for at least five years, to allow a detailed study of possible links between a combined MMR jab and autism.

In the Scottish Parliament, Deputy Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm rejected the argument, saying that medical experts had concluded there was no link between the MMR vaccination and the disease.

In a vote on the motion, Mr Sheridan was defeated by 62 votes to 49.

Mr Sheridan, speaking during parliamentary time allocated to him for a debate of his choice, said the most "heart-rending" stories he had heard as a politician were on this issue.

Tommy Sheridan: "Marked increase in incidence"

He said: "The cases have risen markedly over the last 10 years and almost without exception those parents believe the triple MMR vaccine has been the causal link in the development of autism.

"I have to be honest, I don't know for sure whether or not the triple MMR vaccine is a causal link.

"But I have got to say in the midst of so little research and understanding of autism and its marked increase in incidence, who can really be sure that there's no causal link?"

The leader of the Scottish Socialist Party said that his motion was not against vaccination, but was seeking the return of single vaccines to allow parental choice.

Causes of autism

Mr Chisholm quoted from the chairman of the British Medical Association's Scottish Council, Dr John Garner, who concluded that the world's largest study into the triple vaccine had found "no evidence of any causal link".

He dismissed Mr Sheridan's call for research saying that the Medical Research Council was already conducting a study into the causes of autism.

The Scottish National Party's shadow health minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said there was a danger that concern over the MMR jab could lead some parents to not vaccinate their children.

"I believe that the answer is to give people the choice of single vaccines," she said.

Conservative deputy health spokesman, Ben Wallace, called for confirmation that the Scottish Executive would act on the recommendations of the Scottish Parliament's Health Committee, due to report soon.