Vol. 481 No. 3
67 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps, if any, he proposes taking to provide for mandatory medical screening of refugees for infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis; and if his attention has been drawn to the fact that general practitioners working in the inner city of Dublin have expressed concern about the current absence of such screening. [15776/97]
There are no plans at present to provide mandatory medical screening for refugees for infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.
The report of the working party on tuberculosis published by my Department in September 1996 made recommendations in respect of the procedure to be followed for individuals living abroad in countries or areas known to have a high incidence of tuberculosis and arriving to spend at least three months in this country. The procedure includes notification, screening, testing and provision of health information.
In relation to HIV, the World Health Organisation does not recommend routine HIV testing for refugees. This position is supported by the National AIDS Strategy Committee which recommended that testing for HIV should only be done for diagnostic purposes after consideration of recognised risk factors and with fully informed consent. I have had inquiries made with the Eastern Health Board in relation to the second element of the Deputy's question. The board advises that it provides a full general practitioner service for refugees at which all medical problems, including initial diagnosis of infectious disease, would be identified. In addition, more public health medical staff are being recruited at present to carry out the routine contact tracing for both tuberculosis and hepatitis B among refugees. For refugees from certain high risk countries of the former USSR, diphtheria immunisation will also be provided. These plans have been developed by the board in consequence of the large increase in the numbers of asylum seekers entering Ireland particularly in 1996 and in 1997 to date.
I am satisfied that the Eastern Health Board's current and proposed actions in this area are sufficient to allay any concerns of general practitioners working in the inner city regarding infectious disease screening for refugees.
