The Committee will hear from:
• Steve Brine MP, Health Minister
• Chris Mullin, Chief Economist, Department of Health and Social Care, and
• Dr Mary Ramsay, Consultant Epidemiologist and Head of Immunisation, Public Health England
Petitions on the meningitis B vaccine have been signed by more than 840,000 people. In 2016, the Petitions and Health Committees in 2016 heard from families, charities and medical experts. It was clear that there were serious concerns about how the Government decides whether a vaccine is cost-effective.
There was already a Working Group looking at it. That Group is known as ‘CEMIPP’—Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurement. The Committees called on the Government to publish the CEMIPP report and to commit to doing a full public consultation on its recommendations. The Government agreed to publish the report, and said that it hoped to do this before the end of 2016.
Despite repeated requests from MPs, that report has not been published. The Petitions Committee has called in the Minister to explain why.