Written question asked by Lord Lansley (Conservative) on Wednesday, 23 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 April 2005. It was answered by Melanie Johnson (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 April 2005 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made in implementing Stopping Tuberculosis in England.

Answer: Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in implementing stopping tuberculosis in England. [224285] Miss Melanie Johnson: Work has started to implement some key areas of the tuberculosis action plan, including: Publication of new media material to raise awareness among professions. Launch of a new mobile X-ray unit in London on World TB Day (24 March 2005) to enhance case finding for difficult to reach groups. Funding to the Health Protection Agency to help the top 10 TB areas implement local actions in line with the aims of the TB action plan. Review of the BCG immunisation programme by the BCG sub- group of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Work with London TB groups to enhance service delivery and improve treatment completion rates. The effectiveness of these initiatives and projects and the impact on the prevalence of disease will be monitored. However, data on TB is compiled retrospectively and we will not have robust information for another two years. Future work will address other areas of the plan.

Secondary information