The facts are simple and stark. Pneumococcal disease is a major burden on the NHS and there is an effective and safe vaccine against both pneumococcal pneumonia and pneumococcal bacteraemia. However, the vaccine is not being routinely used to protect our older people.

It is government policy to vaccinate many groups at risk of the disease - people with diabetes and heart or lung disease - however the largest single at risk group are excluded - older people.

The economic and clinical arguments for extending pneumococcal vaccination to the over 65s are strong and persuasive, at least to the many GPs that have decided to give it. But the Department of Health still insists, '[We continue] to recommend this vaccine based on underlying ill health rather than age.'

Pneumonia is still the most common reason for an acute hospital admission in the UK and over 90% of patients with the most serious forms of the disease are aged over 65 - 40% of those will die from the disease.

An average district health authority (with a population of half a million) will have to cope with 400 cases of pneumococcal pneumonia, with 40 to 80 deaths, 43 cases of pneumococcal bacteraemia with 6 to 11 deaths and three to four cases of pneumococcal meningitis, with one death.

Patients admitted with community acquired pneumonia will stay in hospital for around 11 days and one in ten will need to be admitted to an intensive care bed.

It is therefore clear to see why the argument to extend the pneumococcal vaccination programme to the over 65s is gaining in strength and influence - it is based on clear clinical and health economic data.

Universal vaccination for those aged over 65 has already been recommended by the World Health Organisation. That recommendation was based on research showing that, not only would vaccination prevent many serious infections in this vulnerable group, but that it would be easier to implement than the current policy.

According to a study of five Western European countries, including Scotland, an age based vaccination programme would be 'highly cost-effective'.

In Sweden over 250,000 people aged 65 or over took part in a study where half of them received the usual flu vaccine while the other half got the flu jab plus the pneumococcal vaccine. A year later total mortality was 57% lower in those who had both vaccines.

The Chief Medical Officer has recently published the report "Getting Ahead of the Curve" in which he calls for greater use of existing vaccines to tackle infectious diseases. The polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine is a proven vaccine that can prevent serious illness and death. Its wider use will help reduce pressure on the NHS and prevent older people from being admitted to hospital.

How many older people will have to suffer before the Government recommends all over 65s are given the pneumo vaccine - a vaccine that can be given when someone first visits their GP for the flu jab, is cost effective, safe and proven.