HL Deb 17 June 1985 vol 465 cc4-5

2.45 p.m.

Baroness Lane-Fox

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the national annual rate and the lowest inner city annual rate of immunisation against polio.

The Earl of Caithness

My Lords, it is estimated that in England 84 per cent. of children born in 1981 and 74 per cent. born in 1982 had been immunised by the end of 1983. The difference in those figures reflects the large number of children who were immunised in the second year after birth. Figures are not available on a district basis for children born in 1981 because of boundary changes in that year. For children born in 1982 and vaccinated by the end of 1983, the lowest estimated rate is 46 per cent.

Baroness Lane-Fox

My Lords, may I thank my noble friend for that reply, which is slightly more favourable than had been feared? Can I ask him whether he is aware that many handicapped polio victims can hardly believe that informed parents would wish to deny their children protection from that dread disease? Is he satisfied that parents realise the mortality rate of such an epidemic, as well as its crippling power to render limbs frail and useless, to twist spines and to paralyse breathing muscles, leaving victims to struggle on without the award of any financial damages such as are received for similar injury through accidents at work and in other places? Finally, may I ask him whether in his view those facts are widely enough known by all those who like himself are too young to have experienced the consequences of a polio epidemic?

The Earl of Caithness

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for her questions. If I may rather lump the answer together, yes, the Government are very concerned that we get our policy across on a voluntary basis. We try to explain to parents through various means, with booklets and with the help of educationists, the pros and cons to give them an informed choice and present the true picture.

Baroness Jeger

My Lords, when the Minister is able to target areas that are particularly low in response, can he consider the possibility of undertaking a definite educational campaign in those areas? Is it not a fact that school medical officers are not allowed to distribute the sugar lumps but can only tell parents to take their children to their NHS doctor, and there is many a slip between the advice being given and the children being taken to the doctor? Can we not involve the school medical service more actively?

The Earl of Caithness

My Lords, we hope to get the children before they get to the education process. The ideal is to try to immunise all children in their first year of birth, with a further booster between the age of 15 and 19 years, as the noble Baroness will be aware. We monitor carefully what the districts are doing. Where low rates are identified those are discussed with the appropriate regional health authority with a view to remedying the situation. In the area that has the lowest rate, which is in a part of London, we have an agreement with the RHA that the situation will be dramatically improved, and we hope that that will be so in the foreseeable future.