Plans for an emergency vaccine production centre at Porton Down in Wiltshire, already rejected once by the government, are to be reconsidered following stinging criticism of Britain's preparedness for infectious epidemics.
A House of Lords committee report yesterday demanded urgent action to tackle the threat from age-old diseases such as flu and new threats such as West Nile virus and Sars, and warned that the government could not rely on buying supplies from abroad.
Peers on the select committee on science said ministers must ensure "secure access" to supplies and far better coordination of the "under-resourced and overstretched" health services in looking out for infectious diseases.
Although England had not experienced major infectious epidemics in recent years, it said, "this owes as much to good fortune as good management".
Pat Troop, chief executive of the health protection agency, which is responsible for coordinating responses to infectious diseases, confirmed yesterday that it would submit a "new business case" for a rapid vaccine production plant.
Dr Troop, formerly a government deputy chief medical officer, was recently one of the officials advising ministers who rejected a similar proposal from one of the new agency's predecessor bodies.
This was partly because those backing the idea could not promise vaccine development times of less than six months, and partly because the original estimated cost for the centre had quadrupled to £30m over five years.
Shortages of smallpox vaccine in Britain were exposed after the September 11 attacks, and the final contract for new supplies has still to be announced. The anti-TB vaccine has also been in short supply.
But the committee made it clear that the problem was far wider. A global flu pandemic could put vaccine supplies under severe strain.
Very few vaccines are made in Britain. Most of those used here are from France or Belgium.
The committee recognised that there were problems in developing vaccines quickly, but said: "In the event of a major global epidemic it is likely that overseas suppliers of vaccines would be under pressure to give priority to their own country's requirements."
It said the government should consider offering small drug companies cash incentives to develop new vaccines.
The committee did not discuss MMR in detail, but it suggested that the public needed to be told more about the vaccine's risks and benefits.
