asked the Minister for Health if he will state with reference to the scheme for vaccination against poliomyelitis in respect of the year 1957-58 (a) the total number of children who would have been eligible for free vaccination, (b) the number that were actually vaccinated, (c) the estimated cost of the scheme and (d) the actual cost.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Vaccination against Poliomyelitis.
(a) The total number of children eligible for vaccination against poliomyelitis during the year 1957-58 was 249,275.
(b) Figures are not yet available in respect of children who have received the complete course of three injections.
The number who received the first two injections up to 31st December, 1957, was 38,006.
(c) The estimated cost of the scheme was £59,100, of which £56,600 was in respect of vaccine and £2,500 in respect of extra staff.
(d) As a number of the children who were accepted for vaccination in the later part of the year 1957-58 have not yet received their third injection, figures showing the actual cost of the scheme are not yet available.
It appears from the Minister's figures that, in relation to the scheme of vaccination last year, which was free in respect of the persons or the children who qualified in the age group, about one-seventh of those entitled to qualify in fact availed of the scheme? Is that correct?
Yes, that is so.