§ Mr. Luceasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what action is required in order to eliminate rubella;
(2) how much would it cost to eliminate rubella.
§ Dr. OwenThe object of the present rubella (German measles) vaccination campaign in the United Kingdom is to prevent women of child-bearing age from giving birth to children with congenital deformities, not to eliminate the disease. On the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation this is achieved by offering vaccine to all girls between their eleventh and fourteenth birthdays and to all women of child-bearing age who have been shown to be sero-negative by a preliminary blood test. To eliminate rubella would require a mass vaccination campaign of boys as well as 277W girls, and since this has not been recommended I do not think it would be worth while to attempt to cost such a programme.