The Coalition: Catch it, Bin it, Kill it!

Flu and the Coalition: Catch it, Bin it, Kill it?

At the end of December, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley defended the decision not to have flu adverts before the Christmas period. In a BBC interview he compared such an action to “crying wolf” (‘Andrew Lansley defends flu advert campaign timing’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12096136). This would be perfectly reasonable if a number of people had not died of flu and flu-like illnesses, it is not crying wolf when the wolf is already at the door. Why was the ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’ advert not ran earlier? Of course, one does not want to scaremonger with such a delicate issue, and no sane person would hold any member of the cabinet personally responsible for influenza deaths, but the buck has to stop somewhere. The advert has been run as a matter of course before, did the Coalition think there would be no flu this year, and in snowny winter with sub-zero temperatures making access to local GP’s difficult, was it really thought no response was required? Mr. Lansley’s defence given to the BBC was simply unsatisfactory and people deserve better.