School TB jabs to restart

The BCG vaccine protects against TB

The vaccination of teenagers against TB is to restart after an 18-month delay - as the world marks World Tuberculosis Day.

The schools immunisation programme had to be stopped because there was a shortage of the vaccine.

Conservative Party critics have accused the government of complacency towards TB and said the disease's re-emergence highlighted the failure of UK public health policy.

We have remained committed to restarting the schools programme as soon as it was possible

Yvette Cooper
Public health minister

TB experts in the UK estimate roughly three million teenagers have missed out on the vaccine while the programme was suspended. It will be made available within the next two months.

The BCG jab, which immunises against TB, is given to teenagers aged 13 to 15.

Yvette Cooper, public health minister, said: "I am delighted to announce that the BCG schools immunisation programme against TB can begin again.

"We know that parents have been concerned about the health of their children while the programme has been suspended.

"This is why we have remained committed to restarting the schools programme as soon as it was possible."

The public health minister said there was now a secure long-term supply of the vaccine, and immunisation programmes could now begin again.

Labour has totally failed to prevent the re-emergence of this dreadful disease

Liam Fox
Conservative Party spokesman

UK public health policy was condemned by shadow health secretary Dr Liam Fox, who said: "The Conservatives have repeatedly worried about the risks from failure to immunise, lack of investment in specialist staff and the risks posed by the large influx of people from high-risk areas.

"Despite this, Labour has totally failed to prevent the re-emergence of this dreadful disease."

He added: "Tony Blair's government has not only left children in many parts of the country unprotected, they have also managed to establish London as Europe's TB capital."

We should do what we can to safeguard against TB and so I am pleased that it is possible to restart the programme

Paul Sommerfeld,
TB Alert

The first teenagers who will be immunised will be those who missed out, and who will be leaving schools this summer.

Next will be a catch-up programme to immunise all pupils aged between 13 and 15 in the next academic year.

The government aims to have the immunisation programme back on track for all pupils by 2002/2003.

Ms Cooper said: "Every effort will be made to vaccinate all of the children who have missed out on the BCG vaccine since September 1999."

London, which has some of the worst affected areas for TB, saw its school immunisation programme restart in August 2000.

Paul Sommerfeld, chair of the UK charity TB Alert, told BBC News Online: "TB is on the increase in Britain and world-wide. There was an 11% increase last year in England and Wales.

"We should do what we can to safeguard against TB and so I am pleased that it is possible to restart the programme."