asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on his Department's attitude to the BCG vaccination programme for school children.
Written Answers. - BCG Vaccination.
180.
The precise practice in regard to BCG vaccination in each area is a matter for determination by the director of community care and medical officer of health having regard to the local epidemiological situation.
A research project to evaluate the effectiveness of the current BCG programme in operation throughout the country is currently being undertaken by the Faculty of Community Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians with the support of the Department of Health. This project will provide information on the relationship between the BCG vaccination programmes as applied in specific areas, and the morbidity of, and mortality from, tuberculosis and the incidence of TB meningitis in those areas. Based on the information obtained from the project, decisions may be taken as to how BCG vaccination policy should be conducted in the future.
181.
asked the Minister for Health the health boards that are carrying out the BCG vaccination programme for children.
BCG vaccination is available under every health board but it is not necessarily provided as a routine in each area within a health board. It is a matter for each director of community care and medical officer of health to determine what procedures to implement in his area, having regard to the epidemiological situation existing, including tuberculin positivity.