Give parents a choice on MMR

According to new research in the scientific journal Clinical Evidence, there is no evidence that MMR is linked with autism. It is an important finding, drawing on the wealth of published studies on the issue. But no matter how impeccable this work may be, it will fail to make much difference to the thousands of parents who have to make a momentous choice on behalf of their child.

According to new research in the scientific journal Clinical Evidence, there is no evidence that MMR is linked with autism. It is an important finding, drawing on the wealth of published studies on the issue. But no matter how impeccable this work may be, it will fail to make much difference to the thousands of parents who have to make a momentous choice on behalf of their child.

Rightly or wrongly, too many people feel that the MMR jab is a risk that they cannot take for their children. The Government has consistently failed to deal with this lack of confidence, which is now a fact of political life and has led to a critically low take up of the MMR jab. The best solution would be for the Government to give parents the option of taking the measles, mumps and rubella jabs separately. That pragmatic approach is the best way to avoid the epidemic that all of us fear.