Written Answers. - Vaccination Programme.
Alan Shatter
Ceist:
66
Mr. Shatter
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
if he will introduce a children's vaccination card applicable to all children to be retained by their parents containing a clear record of all vaccinations received similar to that in Israel; the plans, if any, he has to initiate a public advertising campaign concerning the importance of vaccinations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[7664/00]
Pat Rabbitte
Ceist:
80
Mr. Rabbitte
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
the prognosis concerning a more widespread measles epidemic in view of the fact that 200 children have been diagnosed with the disease in the past few weeks; the steps, if any, being taken to contain the spread of the disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9918/00]
Jim Higgins
Ceist:
86
Mr. Higgins (Mayo)
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
if he is concerned at the increase in the numbers of children contracting measles; and his proposals to encourage greater use of the immunisation programme.
[9768/00]
Brendan Howlin
Ceist:
89
Mr. Howlin
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
if he will make a statement on the proposed national campaign to combat falling vaccination levels to deal with infectious diseases such as measles and whooping cough among children; when the campaign will begin; the budget to be allocated for it; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[9908/00]
Alan Shatter
Ceist:
214
Mr. Shatter
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
if he is concerned at the increase in the numbers of children contracting measles; and his proposals to encourage greater use of the immunisation programme.
[10208/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 66, 80, 86, 89 and 214 together.
The health boards maintain central databases of primary childhood immunisations and general practitioners keep detailed records of the individ ual vaccinations which they administer. My Department's health promotion unit has produced a Child Health Record booklet, which is intended to help parents to keep a record of their child's development and health/illness events and as a record of the child's health history for health professionals. This booklet, or other parent-held vaccination records involving manual recording of vaccinations, is in use in several health board areas. However, the boards' experience has been that such an arrangement does not always operate effectively, as some parents do not bring the record with them when having their children immunised and so the record does not accurately indicate the immunisations which children have received.
As a result of the identification of the need for a review of child health services in the health strategy, Shaping a Healthier Future, the chief executive officers of the health boards initiated a review of the services in question. One of the recommendations in the recently produced report, Best Health for Children, is that serious consideration should be given to the development of a parent held child health record, PCHR, in Ireland which would be used for all children. It was further recommended that prior to its introduction it should be subjected to a pilot phase, followed by a full evaluation.
Accordingly, the Mid-Western Health Board was chosen to carry out a demonstration project on the PCHR, an important component of which will be a timetable for and record of the vaccinations received by children. My Department has allocated £290,000 to the Mid-Western Health Board in 2000 for the first year of the project. The duration of the project is two and a half years and it is envisaged that, following its evaluation and refinement, it will be extended to the other health boards.
The current level of uptake of the MMR vaccine leaves Ireland vulnerable to an epidemic of measles. The Eastern Regional Health Authority has indicated to my Department that up to 31 March there have been 315 cases of measles in its area of responsibility, compared to 27 cases in the region in the equivalent period in 1999. Almost 80% of the cases occurring since the beginning of the year have been in the Northern Area Health Board area of the ERHA.
The situation is a cause for concern and the ERHA has indicated that a range of control measures have been implemented. A programme of MMR booster immunisations for the primary school population in the region is being initiated, concentrating first on schools where cases of measles have occurred. Other measures include the alerting of general practitioners to the situation and stressing to them the importance of children being offered measles immunisation; the promulgation of information through the media about the risks associated with measles infection and the advisability of immunisation; communication with parents whose children are not recorded as having received MMR vaccination and alerting pre-school facilities to the occurrence of the outbreak. The situation is being monitored by the ERHA on an ongoing basis.
While the current outbreak has so far been concentrated in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area, since MMR uptake in all health board regions is below 95%, there is a risk that outbreaks will occur elsewhere also. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity strongly to urge parents in all areas of the country to ensure that their children receive the MMR vaccine, which is available free of charge from their family doctor. This will ensure that individual children and the population generally have maximum protection against measles, mumps and rubella.
With regard to an alleged link between the MMR vaccine and the development of certain conditions or disorders, I would also like to reiterate that my Department has reviewed the available evidence and is satisfied that the MMR vaccine is a very safe and effective one. There is no evidence to support any link between the MMR vaccine and the subsequent development either of chronic inflammatory bowel disease or of autism and recently published studies in the UK and Europe have further confirmed this. Neither is there evidence that giving each of the component vaccines separately has any greater benefit than the combined vaccine.
In view of the current primary immunisation uptake levels generally, my Department has asked the Office for Health Gain, which was established by the chief executive officers of the health boards to undertake health promotion activities, to consider the most appropriate means of heightening public awareness about the importance of childhood immunisation. The office will be developing a new campaign in this regard in the coming months.
In addition to considering public information measures, my Department has recently written to all of the health boards, requesting them to make every effort to achieve the national targets in this programme this year, and to make particular efforts in relation to MMR. Among the issues which boards have been asked to address are the need to undertake an analysis of the reasons for the unsatisfactory level of uptake, to ensure that immunisation databases are regularly validated, to address low uptake in the traveller population and to follow up unimmunised children. Boards have been asked to make every effort to devise strategies tailored to local needs, employing innovative approaches if considered necessary, in order to achieve significant improvements in uptake.
