Sorry. Long post. Just to let people see a summary of what happened by way of my thank you to David Cameron and his reply (albeit in reverse order!). He certainly intends to keep going on these issues and so should we.
Subj: RE: The Debate
Date: 09/07/2003 15:13:55 GMT Standard Time
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Thanks - I think yours is a very good summary of what happened. I will certainly try and keep up the momentum, which was the point of getting the guarantee about the meeting. Please liaise with GBSS about ensuring you come on it.
I will make sure you get a copy of the debate
David
-Original Message-
From:
Sent: 09 July 2003 11:49
To: [email protected]
Subject: The Debate
Dear Mr Cameron
Well, thank you very much indeed for putting across a very emotive and precise case for the need for testing and treatment. The points made by yourself and colleague in favour of such were, in my opinion, appropriate and detailed.
The response, I feel, was not so precise and indeed failed to answer a number of the issues raised. The minister waffled in areas but on the whole seemed to put across a pre-prepared line of thought - that is, the dangers of antibiotics to mothers during labour. Yes, this is indeed true, but I felt he spent much more time on this point than was necessary and almost tried to shift the emphasis in this direction. On the positive side, he did seem open to investigating further options and indeed it was excellent that he agreed to meet and address a delegation of mums etc at a future date. On the issue of re-inventing the wheel, I was surprised at his reluctance to use the excellent research already undertaken elsewher. Indeed, as you may be aware, and somewhat closer to home, an indepth study was undertaken recently in Finland with excellent results. His response to Jane Plumb's MP at the end was also particularly poor, even though you yourself had already asked the same question and he therefore had time to give a more detailed reply.
Nonetheless, awareness has certainly been raised. We can now only hope and trust that this momentum will not be lost and that noises will continue to be made until appropriate actions are taken.
The debate was interesting and whilst I watched and listened to it all, I would still be grateful to receive a copy of same as you have so kindly offered to arrange.
Thank you, once again, for all the time you have given to this matter. If a delegation of mums is indeed arranged at a future date, I would be very interested in being a part of same, albeit living where I do, I realise this may not prove practical.
With regards