mr president the inevitable arrival and recurrence of a flu pandemic has thrust the issue of vaccination to the forefront of the news agenda
however this has been a long-standing and persistent problem for the developing world
the oral question this morning raises an excellent point about the hypocrisy and inequity of the western world demanding materials for vaccines from developing countries to protect their rich citizens and then having the audacity to sell the selfsame vaccines back to the poor
above and beyond the need for the developing world to have similar access to flu vaccinations we must strive to set up a system whereby the poorest people of the world who are almost invariably more exposed to disease have the opportunity which we in the west take for granted to protect themselves from preventable diseases
tuberculosis is a good example of the contrast between us and our neighbours in the developing world
in europe children are routinely given the bcg vaccination which has greater than eighty effectiveness
this has led to a situation in europe where tb is not the persistent threat is once was
contrast this with the developing world where twenty-six of avoidable deaths are caused by tuberculosis
the effect of tb in these countries is exacerbated by the fact that it is a highly infectious airborne disease that spreads easily within confined spaces such as the squalid shanty towns so prevalent in many developing nations
add to this the fact that fifty of aids patients in sub-saharan africa where hiv aids is rife will develop tb and we can see how lucky we are to be in the relatively controlled immunised area having programmes such as we do
for a shining success story of the power of immunisation and the need for development aid in general look no further than the example of measles in africa where largely due to vaccination programmes deaths from the disease fell from ninety between two thousand and two thousand and six
mr president it is clear that vaccination works and it is clear that we have a responsibility to the people who are suffering from the absence of vaccinations
i urge that we in this house keep the pressure on to ensure that this facility is made available to the poorest of the poor
may i make a point of order before i sit down please do something about the lifts in this house
i was going up and down in the lift when the doors jammed and i could hardly get here in time for the debate
everybody complains about it
something has to be done
