The call for an “urgent debate” on a new vaccine for Meningitis B has been welcomed by Patrick Leonard, SDLP candidate in the Sperrin ward in next year’s local government elections.
Tragic teen Terri Devine.
Backing his party colleague Margaret Ritchie MP, who has called for a Westminster debate on the new vaccine, Mr Leonard said such a debate was particularly relevant to the Strabane area following the death of Glenmornan teenager Terri Devine who passed away in 2008 after contracting a aggressive strain of the illness.
Last year Terri’s family launched “Time for Terri,” a campaign calling on the British Government to introduce the new Meningitis B vaccine into the childhood immunisation programme.
This campaign went to the hearts of over 22,000 people who added their names to a petition backing the initiative which was then presented at Downing Street.
Mr Leonard said: Meningitis remained an unpredictable disease that was “every parent’s worst nightmare.”
He added: “So many parents like Marie and Sean Devine have experienced the tragic loss of a child, or had to cope with severe disability brought on by the disease, and we must do everything we can to fight this.
“While there is great hope in the new Bexsero vaccine it is deeply regrettable the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has decided not to include it in the routine immunisation programme.
“This is simply not acceptable and we in the SDLP will continue to battle on this issue until our concerns are taken on board.”
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