UKHSA launches campaign to increase vaccine take up

The UK Health Security Agency is launching a new multi-media marketing campaign across England to remind parents and carers of the risk of their children missing out on protection against serious diseases that are re-emerging in the country – with an urgent call to action to catch up on missed vaccinations.

The campaign goes live on 4 March and will feature a video advert told from the perspective of children and in their voices.

Uptake levels of childhood vaccines offered through the routine NHS vaccination programme in England have been falling over the past decade across all vaccines, including whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, meningitis and diphtheria – with England no longer having the levels of population immunity recommended by the World Health Organisation that is needed to prevent outbreaks.

Crucially, lower vaccine uptake within communities is directly linked to wider health inequalities and Directors of Public Health and their teams are working hard with partners on a local level to improve vaccine take up and ensure that communities are fully informed on vaccination.

Read more about the role DsPH play in improving vaccine take up in this recent article on vaccine take up in the BMJ written by Amanda Healy, our lead for Health Protection.