Disability alleged in one third of vaccine claims
The Vaccine Damage Steering Group, set up in 2007, presented its report to the Health Minister in recent weeks, but it has yet to be published.
In the submissions seen by the Irish Examiner, a litany of mental and physical handicaps are cited, with at least a third of those relating to serious brain damage and/or physical handicap.
The report was undertaken following a 2002 Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children which recommended a no-fault compensation scheme be established for the “small number of children” who experienced serious reactions to vaccinations.
Fine Gael’s Denis Naughton, who has been campaigning for the families for 10 years, said it must be published “immediately” to make adequate provision for those affected.
Mr Naughton said the plight of the families had never been high up the priority list, even when there was money in the coffers, but urged the Government to publish the report.
“At this stage it is not about a bundle of money. A lot of these kids are now in their mid to late-30s, the parents are quite elderly, and the vast majority simply want an acknowledgement that their child has been damaged by the vaccine — that does not cost anything,” he said.
Mr Naughton claimed families had been branded as “crackpots” over the years.
“They were told this is all in your head and your imagination,” he said.
There would be cost implications for the Government, but that some of those allegedly affected would end up being cared for by the state anyway, he said.
“The reality is that these parents can never take a court case. They just want a commitment in writing that their children will be cared for, they have been let down so many times in the past.”
Chairperson of the vaccine damage steering group Chris Harrison said recommendations had been made to the minister and it was up to her if and when the report would be published.
According to the Department of Health, vaccines are given at an early age because babies are most vulnerable to diseases, such as measles and mumps, and need to be protected as early as possible. The department said most childhood immunisations protect 90% to 99% of the children who are vaccinated from the diseases.
