Yesterday, 11 of our Young Ambassadors took our Beat it Now! campaign right to the heart of Government. On the invitation of David Cameron they were joined around the Cabinet table in the Cabinet Meeting Room in Number 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor on Health, Nick Seddon.
The Young Ambassadors were amazing, briefly and confidently sharing their own stories, making it very clear how real the long term impact of meningitis can be, its effects on the wider family and why introduction of the MenB vaccine is so important for us all.
We were able to demonstrate that not all after-effects are immediately evident and that this, together with the full impact on all members of a family, had not been taken into account when looking at what the Government considered to be a “cost effective price”.
Nick Seddon committed to updating the Prime Minister on what he had heard and we asked him to intervene and make sure the negotiations were concluded quickly, before Parliament dissolves on 26th March. As we said, “how can it possibly take 8 months for 2 parties to negotiate on one item, especially when that one item is a vaccine that will save lives and prevent disability?”
And, thanks to your help, before we went into Downing Street, the Young Ambassadors delivered our emergency petition, with over 11,000 signatures, to a representative of the Secretary of State for Health at the Department of Health.
Thank you so much to everyone that is supporting our Beat it Now! campaign and to the YAs who made their voice heard yesterday on behalf of everyone whose life has been touched by meningitis in order to prevent it from happening to others.
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