Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce children’s exposure to measles.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is working closely with NHS England, the Department and wider health system partners at the national, regional and local levels to ensure the health system is prepared and can respond to outbreaks. Briefing notes and letters have been sent to the National Health Service and health professional organisations to remind them of existing guidance and ask them to seek assurance of their preparedness to manage measles cases and prevent outbreaks in their settings. National Measles guidance has been updated, and a range of resources have been published including posters and training resources, which are all available at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-measles-guidelines

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/measles-information-and-poster-for-health-professionals

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/measles-guidance-data-and-analysis

In January 2024, a national multi-agency exercise is planned to assess the system-wide preparedness to respond to a large measles outbreak at a regional and national level.

UKHSA, NHS England, the Department and wider health system partners are also working to raise public awareness of the risks and increase measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage, including through national and regional call-recall exercises, communication campaigns and targeted outreach for underserved communities. NHS England has agreed with general practices to focus their annual campaign on local call recall for MMR to ensure that consistent efforts are made to contact those eligible who have not taken up a vaccine offer between November 2023 and March 2024. A national call recall for individuals aged six years old up to and including 25 years old who are not up to date with their MMR vaccine is planned for 2024.