MMR vaccine rates below NHS Fife’s target
Work to increase the uptake in MMR2 vaccinations across Fife is continuing.
The level of update for NHS Fife currently sits at 87.3 per cent which is short of the health authority’s 92 per cent target.
Councillor Rosemary Liewald (Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty, SNP) raised the performance at Wednesday’s meeting of the Fife Health and Social Care partnership’s Integrated Joint Board.
“The uptake is not really what we would expect,” she said. “What, if anything, can we do to try and improve this?
“I am thinking more about from a locality level. Is there anything you are planning to roll out in terms of educational material, getting into early years facilities, mother and child drop in clinics and toddler groups?“What is happening to improve this?”
Lisa Cooper, head of primary and preventative care, confirmed efforts were in place to try and improve uptake.
“We have already taken on some aspects. We are engaging with nurture centres and now have the health visitor’s team getting involved,” she said.
“We are doing targeted work at this stage with families choosing not to take up the vaccination. We are visiting people at home and bringing them into our clinics.
“We know it is not where we want it to be. It is one of the biggest prevention activities for children’s health so we are doing what we can to improve uptake.”
Councillor Sam Steele, (West Fife and Coastal Villages, SNP) welcomed the targeted work and input from health visitors but suggested efforts could start before their involvement.
“We know health visitors are just 10 days post natal. What kind of input have we got antenatally to try to target this during pregnancy?”
Ms Cooper welcomed the idea.
“We need to explore that antenatal period and how we link around community midwife colleagues about good conversations before the children are born,” she added. “We will take that back.”