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'outrageous'

Labour Party’s Alan Kelly urges Health Minister Simon Harris to ‘get real’ about making Meningitis B jab more affordable for all

Parents have to fork out up to €300 to have their children born before then to be vaccinated against the B strain

ALAN Kelly is urging the Minister for Health Simon Harris "to get real" and make Meningitis B vaccinations more affordable.

The call came from the Labour Party's health spokesperson as it emerged the HSE are probing a possible 12th case of meningitis in Ireland.

 Labour Party health spokesman Alan Kelly
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Labour Party health spokesman Alan KellyCredit: PA:Press Association

Already, three people have died as a result of killer disease in the past two weeks. As it stands, a meningitis B vaccine is available free to kids born since October 2016.

Parents have to fork out up to €300 to have their children born before then to be vaccinated against the B strain.

The Tipperary TD raged: "In refusing to make the meningitis B vaccine free or more affordable, Minister Simon Harris has rejected the will of thousands of parents.

"Parents are nervous about their children contracting meningitis B and are equally nervous about not being able to afford the vaccine.

 Parents to children born after October 2016 have to pay €300 to vaccine their child against meningitis
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Parents to children born after October 2016 have to pay €300 to vaccine their child against meningitisCredit: PA:Press Association

"At the end of the day, it is the parents who are struggling to make ends meet who are going to suffer as they aren't able to afford a round of vaccines that cost €300 per child. These families are being left behind by Fine Gael.

"I've been contacted by families who had to fork out over €600 over the weekend to vaccinate two small children and are now worried about how they are going to make ends meet for the rest of the month.

"All parents make sacrifices for their kids but it is outrageous to expect parents to bear the brunt of such large costs in the middle of a health crisis."

Kelly wants the health chiefs to buy the vaccine in bulk, saying they would save money.

 The HSE has revealed a possible 12th case is currently being investigated
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The HSE has revealed a possible 12th case is currently being investigated

He added: "Rather than lecture parents who are unable to afford this vaccine, the Government and HSE now have the opportunity to buy this vaccine in bulk to administer to children who would have missed out on this vaccine, and in turn this would significantly lower the costs.

"Minister Harris needs to get real on this and move to providing this vaccine at a more affordable price point for parents and their children."

Some 11 people across the country have been diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis or sepolder ticaemia since the final week of December, more than double the number of cases identified here during the same period last year.

The three people killed by the infection included both young and old people with cases cropping up across the country as opposed to one centralised region.

The number diagnosed with this infectious disease has continued to grow over the past two years with 89 cases flagged in 2018 compared to 76 in 2017.

Meningococcal meningitis is an infection that involves inflammation of the membranes around the brain and the spinal cord.

Earlier this week, Harris defended not extending the scheme to give a free vaccine against meningitis B to older children.

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