Vol. 518 No. 3
154 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will instruct that all local health board clinics have MMR vaccine sessions in view of the present crisis and the fact that not all GPs offer this service and others only offer it to patients who arranged other elements of maternity through that GP. [11358/00]
The operation of the primary childhood immunisation programme is a matter for the health boards in the first instance. The vast majority of general practitioners have a contract with their local health board to provide immunisations, including MMR, under the programme and there is no reason parents should have a difficulty in arranging to have their children immunised by a general practitioner.
The primary immunisation programme permits health boards to make special arrangements where the uptake of immunisation among particular groups or in geographical areas is unacceptably low. In the context of the current outbreak of measles in Dublin, the Eastern Regional Health Authority 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.
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 has been demonstrated to be very safe and effective. This will ensure that individual children and the population generally have maximum protection against measles, mumps and rubella.
