§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 30 March 1998,Official Report, column 434, what steps the Government are taking to combat tuberculosis. [46213]
§ Ms JowellSteps have been taken to strengthen the surveillance, prevention and control of tuberculosis, including drug resistant tuberculosis, within the United Kingdom. The main measures for dealing with tuberculosis include: promptly identifying cases, treating 309W them and examining their contacts; the routine immunisation of children in schools; screening people entering the UK from countries where the incidence is high and arranging Bacille-Calmette-Guerin immunisation or treatment where necessary; immunising the new-born infants and children of immigrants from areas with a high incidence of TB and monitoring the population to keep up to date with trends in incidence. A report was sent to health authorities last year highlighting the importance of monitoring TB and summarising key messages and pointers for practice.