§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the projected timeline is for providing fresh frozen plasma sourced outside the UK for(a) children born in March, (b) older children born since 1996 and (c) high-risk groups. [163481]
218W
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Government announced on 15 August 2002 that fresh frozen plasma (FFP) will be obtained from the United States for new-born babies and children born after 1 January 1996 as an added precaution against the theoretical risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease transmission. The National Blood Service will begin issuing imported FFP for all neonatal patients from the week commencing 29 March 2004. This will be extended to older children born on or after 1 January 1996 as soon as practicable. A commercially produced FFP product, sourced from the United States, is also available for the national health service to purchase.
The expert Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissues for Transplantation is considering whether to extend the provision of non-United Kingdom sourced FFP to high risk groups. There is no defined time scale at present.