§ 5. Miss Pikeasked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he will introduce a programme of mass immunisation against German measles.
§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Security (Dr. John Dunwoody)We hope to be in a position to make a statement on this question shortly.
§ Miss PikeCan the Minister tell us the number of children born deaf or blind or deformed as a result of their mothers' contracting German measles in early pregnancy? Will he also confirm that mass immunisation would wipe out German measles in a generation? Having regard to the recent American experience in this regard, will the Minister also devote his attention to the possibilities of tax evasion in this respect?
§ Dr. DunwoodyMy information is that approximately 200 babies are born in this country with congenital abnormalities because their mothers had German measles early in their pregnancies. I agree that a vaccination campaign would enable us to reduce significantly the toll of this disease, but it may be that a selective campaign—concentrating, per- 998 haps, on adolescent girls—would be more effective, in the short term, than a mass one. I have no knowledge of the tax evasion side of the problem.