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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Cable and Harris quiz Johnson on Swine Flu
May 20, 2009 1:46 PM
• [May 14] Vincent Cable: HAS the Secretary of State considered the special case of cabin crew of airlines travelling to and from the highly affected regions? They operate in a very unhealthy environment, and the airlines, especially BA, will not at present participate in prophylactic schemes. Can he give us some guidance on that?
Alan Johnson: My understanding is that airlines are prepared to give their staff antivirals. They are part of the employer groups to which we talk all the time through the business advisory group on the pandemic. They tell us that they are seeking to do so post-exposure and if any of their cabin staff are symptomatic. There are good occupational health systems in place. If the hon. Gentleman believes that that is not the case with some airlines I would be grateful if he could let me know, so that we can talk to the people concerned.
• Evan Harris (Oxford West & Abingdon, Liberal Democrat): I fully support the Secretary of State's basing his decisions on scientific advice. The Phillips report showed how important such advice is, but does the right hon. Gentleman accept that, in a few aspects of vaccination policy, there will also be questions of judgment that go beyond scientific advice on the ethics? One such question-about jumping the queue-has been raised already, but others involve exactly who gets the vaccine first, and how we deal with supplies in the private sector. Although the answers to those questions can be informed by Government policy to an extent, I hope that he will accept that the wider House beyond the Front-Bench teams should be engaged, as well as civil society. We need to have those debates now, before the vaccines become necessary and the arguments rage, because that gives us a better chance of achieving consensus.
Alan Johnson (Secretary of State, Department of Health; Kingston upon Hull West & Hessle, Labour): I have no problem with such ethical debates taking place. When a pandemic is declared, the whole system and all the manufacturing capacity must in effect be put at the service of the WHO, because that is how we can ensure a proper spread of vaccine. That is the important ethical point at this stage.
No single action will prevent this outbreak from becoming more widespread, but we can continue to contain the virus, using antivirals as a prophylaxis. We can make sure we have the drugs that we need to treat the virus and any complications that occur, and we can begin to vaccinate the whole of the population as soon as possible. We can keep people informed and enable them to protect themselves and their families. Finally, we can be thankful for our NHS and the people who work in it and with it. Throughout its history, and in the most critical situations, it has proved its ability to rise to any occasion.
Although the threat of a pandemic is unlikely to diminish in the weeks and months ahead, we can be reassured that our preparations are thorough and that our actions in dealing with this infection are in the hands of dedicated professionals. I commend the motion to the House.
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