§ Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the incidence of polio in the United Kingdom has yet declined to the point where inactivated Polio Vaccine would be preferable to Oral Polio Vaccine, with its attendant risks of "paralytic polio"; and, if not, how the United Kingdom differs from the United States in this respect. [HL4039]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe World Health Organisation recognises the United Kingdom as one of those countries that have eliminated indigenous polio due to wild virus. The last case of indigenous wild virus poliomyelitis was seen in the United Kingdom in January 1982. However, cases of wild virus poliomyelitis that have been acquired overseas have continued to occur.
The whole of the Americas has been declared free of polio. However, the Indian sub-continent and central and west Africa continue to have relatively high rates of wild virus polio. These are areas of the world with which many residents of the United Kingdom have frequent contact. The United Kingdom therefore currently recommends oral polio vaccine (OPV), since this provides a greater degree of community protection than inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), which is used in the United States and which provides protection only for the individual.
51WAThe World Health Organisation has set a target for eradicating polio world-wide. The Government are keeping the situation under review and, once we can he confident of the control of wild virus polio in the Indian sub-continent and central and west Africa, will seek advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on future polio immunisation policy. Until such time we will continue to provide OPV.