Treasury Targeted For Swine Flu Vaccines

It has emerged that cash is being sought from London to help pay for the fight against swine flu.

Although NI's top medic Dr Michael McBride (pictured) yesterday insisted that cost "was not a factor" which would deter health officials from seeking to deliver the swine flu vaccine - the question of who is footing the bill has been raised today.

The move comes as recent reports have highlighted ongoing wrangling at Stormont about who should foot the £55 million bill for swine flu measures.

Today, the DUP MP Iris Robinson said the UK government must give more funding to Northern Ireland to tackle swine flu.

She wants the costs of vaccinations and other resources to be met by the Treasury rather than "an excessive burden" falling on Stormont.

She said: "The Northern Ireland health budget and Executive's finances overall are already hugely overstretched."

She commented as the Scottish government is also asking the Treasury to make extra funds available for swine flu vaccinations.

While Northern Ireland remains one of the least affected areas in the UK, it is understood Northern Ireland's Finance Minister Sammy Wilson is negotiating with the Treasury on funding for swine flu.

However, when the Assembly was briefly recalled earlier this month to allow Mr Wilson to re-distribute unallocated funds, the NI Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey, was incensed that no extra cash was forthcoming to aid the battle against the pandemic.

Along with Dr Brian Patterson, Chairman of the BMA's Northern Ireland Council - who also added his voice to the criticism - Mr McGimpsey slammed the refusal of his Executive colleague, the Finance Minister, to provide him with the £55m he needed to tackle the global pandemic.

However, yesterday, Chief Medical Officer, Dr McBride insisted he would do what has to be done, irrespective of any such wrangling: "When we are fighting a pandemic we do not stop to ask if we can afford it, we get on and fight it," he said.

"We will do what we need to do."

He said there would need to be "further discussions" about the funding aspect, but that was " not going to stop us doing the right thing".

So far Northern Ireland has not been hit to the same extent by the condition as the mainland.

Twenty-nine people have now died in the UK after contracting swine flu - 26 in England and three in Scotland.

But Dr Carolyn Harper, who is Director of Public Health, said that "science and logic will tell us that we will follow the same pattern as elsewhere and we are planning on that basis".

See: BMA Hits Out On Swine Flu Funding

(BMcC/KMcA)