§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of school leavers in Scotland have been vaccinated against tuberculosis; and if he will make a statement. [1562]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonBCG vaccination has been offered to schoolchildren in Scotland since 1953. In more recent years, the target age group has been 12 to 13 years. Statistical information about the numbers of children vaccinated appears in "Scottish Health Statistics 1995" (Table 8.8). In 1995, 97.9 per cent. of children who were tuberculin tested were either vaccinated or tested positive, indicating that they already had immunity and therefore did not require vaccination. My right hon. Friend accepted the recent recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that the schools-based BCG vaccination programme should continue.