§ 13. Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when it was decided to discontinue the routine vaccination of pre-school children against tuberculosis.
§ Mr. FreemanPre-school children are not routinely vaccinated against tuberculosis. The BCG vaccine is currently recommended for children generally at aged 13 and for infants born to immigrants from developing countries, or where there is a family history of the disease. It is only the school vaccination programme at aged 13 that has had to be postponed due to a temporary shortage of the BCG vaccine.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyIs the Minister aware that preventive health care works only when it is in use and that this programme is tremendously important particularly for immigrant families which suffer from active tuberculosis? Does he agree that it is quite likely that the disease will again become the real difficulty that it used to be in my youth unless the programme is reinstated as rapidly as possible? Is what is happening now a demonstration of how much the Government care about preventive health care?
§ Mr. FreemanI agree with the hon. Lady about the importance of preventive health care. Vaccination of the priority groups is continuing; it has not been stopped. Britain now has some 4,000 cases of tuberculosis a year 828 compared with some 40,000 in 1948. That is still too many and I agree with the hon. Lady about the importance of that programme for the immigrant population.