I WAS saddened and bewildered by Stuart Lever's attempt to besmirch the reputation and motivation of Dr Robert Aston with regard to his commitment to the MMR vaccination (BEN: February 7).
As a recently retired health professional and an ex-colleague of Dr Aston, I can assure Mr Lever, and any other Bolton parents, that central to any work undertaken by Dr Aston is his concern for the health and welfare of Bolton residents and children in particular. To suggest anything else is beyond belief.
Bolton parents should know that following the measles campaign in the 1990s (which, incidentally, was piloted successfully in Bolton) there has been only one confirmed case of measles in Bolton. This good coverage and immunity for local children is largely due to Dr Aston and colleagues in Public Health and Primary Care.
Of course, my heart goes out to the parents of children with any induced side effects from any treatments, but the facts are that measles is not a mild childhood illness, it can kill and cause severe complications. The benefits of MMR far outweigh any of the reported risks. Thankfully, 95 per cent of Bolton parents have very sensibly recognised these facts.
I suggest that Mr Lever and anyone else who doubts the good intentions of a nationally and internationally recognised expert on communicable disease should firstly become better informed and, secondly, think twice before adding to the pointless sensationalism that is currently ongoing.
Joan Bradley
Bolton
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