HC Deb 05 May 1993 vol 224 c89W
Mr. Boyce

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the Government's policy on hepatitis B vaccination.

Mr. Sackville

In the United Kingdom hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for those at particular risk as a result of occupation, lifestyle or other factors such as intimate contact with a person infected with hepatitis B or a carrier of the disease. High risk groups include:

  • intravenous drug abusers;
  • those with multiple sexual partners;
  • close family contacts of an infected person or carrier;
  • babies born to mothers who are chronic carriers or who have had acute hepatitis B during pregnancy;
  • certain occupational groups, including all health care workers involved in invasive procedures.

The policy is kept under constant review, with expert advice from the Advisory Group on Hepatitis and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

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