Potentially fatal diseases could return if children are not vaccinated, RCN warns

The RCN has joined a raft of healthcare organisations who have re-emphasised the importance of childhood vaccinations.

RCN general secretary Janet Davies and Royal College of Midwives chief executive Cathy Warwick have joined colleagues from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Institute of Health Visiting, Public Health, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Royal College of General Practitioners in issuing a statement on vaccinations.

It states: ‘Having your child vaccinated is the only effective way of protecting them against many serious and potentially fatal diseases.

‘Routine vaccinations are safe and thoroughly tested long before they are made available to the public.’

It warns illnesses such as measles, mumps and rubella are serious and could result in death.

‘These diseases can be prevented with vaccines. Although most of us have never seen them in our lifetimes, they will return if children are not vaccinated. This would be a tragedy that can and must be prevented.’

Vaccination rates

Last September, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) warned that millions of children are unprotected against potentially lethal diseases as child vaccination rates in England have been falling for the past two years.

In some areas of the country, fewer than one in ten children were vaccinated against diseases such as polio and diphtheria in 2014-15, according to NHS Digital statistics.

Unless uptake rates improve there is a risk of these diseases making a comeback, NICE said.

In 2015, only one quarter of local authorities met World Health Organization targets to vaccinate 95% of children against measles, mumps and rubella, NICE added.

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