Lord Campbell of CroyMy 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 steps are being taken to ensure that no smallpox virus remains in this country, and that there is adequate control of dangerous pathogens.
§ The Minister of State for Defence Support (Lord Trefgarne)My Lords, I apologise in advance if this Answer is somewhat longer than is usual. General control of pathogens, as with other workplace hazards, is provided by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This places a duty on employers to take all reasonably practicable steps to safeguard the health of their employees and others.
Under the Health and Safety (Dangerous Pathogens) Regulations 1981, work with certain of the most dangerous pathogens, including smallpox, must be notified to the Health and Safety Executive. According to notifications received under those regulations, the last stocks of smallpox virus were removed from this country in 1982.
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive are investigating the recent discovery of material labelled smallpox SP22 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The executive is satisfied that all appropriate steps have been taken to deal with any risks that may have arisen out of the discovery. Further steps have been taken to remind relevant employers of the requirements for safe working with pathogens.
Lord Campbell of CroyMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that very full reply. As vaccination is no longer in use in this country since it has been thought that smallpox has been eradicated, can my noble friend give an assurance, in the light of the recent discovery to which he has referred, that it is not necessary for vaccination to be restarted in this country? Can my noble friend also state whether there are now any countries in the world that have not eliminated smallpox from within their boundaries, and if so what countries they are?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, I can certainly confirm that no danger at all has arisen from the incident to which the Answer referred and to which I suspect my noble friend was referring as the basis of his Question. As for the risk in other countries, so far as I know smallpox has been eradicated from the world altogether, although there are occasionally cases that occur and have to be dealt with.
§ Lord EnnalsMy Lords, am I not right in believing that a stock of smallpox virus is known to be held in the United States and in the Soviet Union? If that is so, can the noble Lord say why it is so and for what purpose it is held, bearing in mind, as the noble Lord has said, that the WHO has declared that smallpox has been eliminated? Secondly, can the Minister throw any light on the apparent failure of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to co-operate with the Health and Safety Executive in the light of the circular to which he referred?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, I can confirm that, as I understand it, the virus is held only in the United States and in the Soviet Union. I understand that it is kept there for research purposes. How it came to be found in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine is a matter now being investigated very fully. I fear that I cannot go further than that.
§ Viscount HanworthMy Lords, am I right in believing that if by any unfortunate chance smallpox broke out somewhere in the world, then we should require the original smallpox stock in order to make a vaccine to deal with the disease and that therefore it must be retained somewhere?
§ Lord TrefgarneMy Lords, I have to confess that I am not entirely certain what materials are required for the preparation of the vaccine; but I can assure the noble Viscount that should the vaccine be needed, then it would be made available in whatever quantities were required.