STROUD-BASED charity Meningitis Now has criticized the Government’s delay in introducing a vaccine to protect children against a deadly form of meningitis.

They say the delay is unacceptable and is resulting in the death of one baby a month.

And many more babies and young people are suffering devastating limb loss, brain injury and deafness.

Sue Davie, CEO of the charity, is calling for a swift resolution to the ongoing negotiations concerning the MenB vaccine.

A year ago expert advisers for the Government recommended that the MenB vaccine should be given on the NHS to babies from the age of two months.

But an agreement on a cost-effective price with the manufacturers GSK has still not been reached.

“Too many of our children are needlessly dying or being left disabled due to this lethargic bureaucracy and this government’s inability to conclude a deal,” said Ms Davie.

“How can it take eight months for two parties to negotiate on one item?” she said.

"Especially when that item is a vaccine that will save lives and prevent disability?

“Since the MenB vaccine was recommended for use by the JCVI one year ago we estimate that one baby per month under the age of one may have died and that many more will have suffered devastating consequences.

“We have in the MenB vaccine a rare opportunity to change this staggering fact and demand that David Cameron and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt choose to recognise this anniversary by taking action to ensure its introduction as a matter of urgency.”

A group of 11 of Meningitis Now’s Young Ambassadors visited 10 Downing Street on Friday, March 20, to discuss the issue with the PM’s health adviser Nick Seddon.

The Young Ambassadors, who all have a personal experience with MenB, expressed both their own experiences of meningitis and their concerns over the continued delay in the vaccine’s introduction.

The group also handed in a petition with 11,000 signatures to the Department of Health calling on David Cameron and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to personally intervene and force the Department of Health to conclude negotiations.

Last week the health secretary said was hopeful that a deal could be reached “very soon,” but stressed that the vaccine had to be introduced at the “right price.”

Currently the list price for a single use of the vaccine in £75 but that figure would not necessarily apply in mass vaccinations.

Meningitis is a bacterial infection that usually affects children under the age of one. There are about 1,870 cases of meningitis B each year in the UK.

Visit meningitisnow.org.