§ Mr. RandallTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what circulars, guidance and memoranda of understanding he has issued which clarify accountability for services concerned with preventing the importation of infectious disease. [156850]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Public Health (Aircraft) Regulations 1979, the Public Health (Ships) Regulations 1979, and the Public Health (International Trains) Regulations 1994 set out a number of 1519W requirements intended to control the importation of infectious disease. Implementation of the regulations is generally a matter for local authorities, with medical input provided by the national health service.
"Instructions to Medical Inspectors", issued by the Department in 1992, sets out the procedures to be followed by medical inspectors responsible for medical examinations of prospective entrants to the United Kingdom under the Immigration Act 1971. This was supplemented by a letter from the Department in January 2003, which asked that the attention of medical inspectors be drawn to section 133 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (this section provides a basis for medical inspectors to pass information about those they have examined to others in the NHS).