§ Mr. BlizzardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the incidence of tuberculosis among homeless and poorly housed people. [130728]
§ Yvette CooperCertain parts of the community—certain ethnic minority populations including immigrants from areas with a high prevalence for tuberculosis, older white people who were exposed to TB when they were younger, homeless people and HIV infected individuals—are at an increased risk from TB.
Information on tuberculosis rates in homeless people, along with recommendations for prevention and control, is contained in the June 1996 report of the Interdepartmental Working Group on Tuberculosis entitled "Tuberculosis and Homeless People, A review arid recommendations for health professionals, local authorities and voluntary and support groups". Copies are available in the Library.
The Department has also funded The Passage Day and Nightshelter for the homeless to write a project on TB control and prevention, which we hope will be available soon. The aims of the report are to improve identification and cure rates for TB in homeless people and to develop 980W a proactive education and awareness programme of TB aimed at homeless individuals and voluntary sector workers and volunteers.
Information on the incidence of tuberculosis among poorly housed people is not collected.
§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he has plans to restore TB vaccination. [132428]
§ Yvette CooperBacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) the vaccine used to protect against tuberculosis has been and is still used to protect those most at risk from TB such as health service and veterinary staff, contacts of people known to be suffering from active pulmonary TB, immigrants from countries with a high prevalence of TB and their children and infants wherever born, including this country. However, due to severe manufacturing problems encountered by the sole United Kingdom licensed source, Celltech Medeva, routine immunisation of 10 to 14-year-olds was suspended nationally in September 1999.
The Department did try to obtain UK licensed and batch released BCG vaccine from elsewhere before suspending the schools BCG immunisation programme. However, only Celltech Medeva vaccine meets these requirements at present. The Department has identified 981W other manufacturers of BCG vaccine worldwide and is investigating these possible sources together with experts from the National Institutes for Biological Standards and Control, the Medicines Control Agency and NHS Purchasing Supply Agency. Products from different manufacturers vary in their composition and side effect profile, and we will need to be assured of the safety and efficacy of these products and that they satisfy current UK requirements.
Suspending the schools programme has allowed us to maintain supplies of the vaccine for all those at a higher risk of TB mentioned above. However we have remained committed to restarting the schools programme as soon as sufficient supplies of the vaccine were available. On 19 July 2000, the Department announced that there is now sufficient supply of vaccine to restart the routine schools programme initially in the London area, where the highest rate of TB in the country currently occurs. We hope to announce, by the end of the summer, when we will have enough vaccine to start the schools programme again in the rest of the country. Copies of the Department's press release of 19 July are available in the Library.