Commenting on the Chief Medical Officer’s announcement that the Government will be abolishing the comprehensive BCG vaccination programme for TB for all school children aged 14 today…

Dr John Moore-Gillon, Chair of the British Thoracic Society Joint TB Committee and President of the British Lung Foundation, said:

“We understand the rationale behind the Government’s decision to stop the universal BCG vaccination programme.  It is appropriate to concentrate resources where they are most needed: shifting the focus to areas where TB is particularly prevalent such as in London and other major inner cities, and to population groups at particularly high risk of TB. However, a selective vaccination programme will need to be properly resourced so that those in high risk groups and areas continue to be protected from the disease. It is vital that every single penny of the funds freed up from abolition of universal BCG vaccination is diverted directly into other aspects of TB control, and we would be very concerned if it just became lost in the general public health budget”

Paul Sommerfeld, Chair of TB Alert, said:

“The government decision reflects the position for areas at low risk of TB. It will be extremely important, however, to maintain BCG programmes in areas of Britain with high rates of TB and, even more so, to support BCG programmes in high-burden countries worldwide. TB can never be fully controlled in the UK unless it is controlled worldwide.  As the G8 leaders meet in Gleneagles today we hope they will remember the two million avoidable deaths that occur worldwide every year because of TB.”   

- Ends -

 For further information or to set up interviews, please call Lauren Goddard or Alessandra Norman on 020 7815 3900 or email lauren.goddard@munroforster.com

 Notes to Editors

 The British Thoracic Society is the UK’s professional body of respiratory specialists (www.brit-thoracic.org.uk)

 The British Lung Foundation is a charity set up in 1985 to provide information on lung conditions and all aspects of lung health, support for those living with a lung condition through the national Breathe Easy network, as well as funding of research into lung disease (www.lunguk.org)

 TB Alert is a charity working to raise awareness of TB, and to support work against the disease worldwide (www.tbalert.org)