Health officials have backtracked over guidance encouraging parents “to seek advice from faith or other community leaders” before deciding whether their children can be vaccinated against flu.
Public Health England (PHE) made the suggestion after some Muslims raised concerns about the presence of pork gelatine in the Fluenz nasal spray, which will be offered from next month to children aged two to ten. It has now deleted this advice from its public information leaflets after the National Secular Society complained that it was “confusing and potentially harmful”.
Stephen Evans, the society’s chief executive, wrote to PHE saying: “Religious people are of course at liberty to consult religious leaders on any issue but they should not be directed to do so by a public health authority.”
.... “Now that awareness of the porcine gelatine issue is much more widespread we are updating our documents to make clear that PHE recommends using scientific evidence to help when deciding whether or not to vaccinate.” [The Times (£)] Read more
