HEALTH bosses in Bury are urging parents to have their children immunised with the MMR jab, despite a controversial programme screened on Channel 5.

It was feared the film Hear the Silence may put parents off allowing their children to be given the jab.

Dr Peter Elton, director of public health for Bury Primary Care Trust, said that children in Bury might die as a result of the film being broadcast on Monday.

The drama relied on the 1998 report of Dr Andrew Wakefield about possible links between the vaccine and autism. But fellow authors of the study only intended it to raise issues for further studies.

Dr Simon Murch, who co-wrote the report with Dr Wakefield, recently said that he has no doubts about MMR's safety and that it is not a risk factor for autism.

Dr Elton said the film ignored the fact that extensive research into MMR has found no evidence to support Dr Wakefield's claim that the vaccine might be linked to an increase in autism.

He said: "MMR has been used safely around the world for 25 years and in the UK, since 1988. It provides safe and proven protection against measles, mumps and German measles, diseases that can have devastating consequences if they are allowed to flourish once more in a community.

"It would be a tragedy if an emotional one-sided drama led to the re-emergence of a disease that can kill. Fortunately five out of six parents in Bury listen to their doctors and health visitors and immunise their children with the MMR. I would urge parents to protect their children."