---

SARS

Answer

The Department has not had any direct contact with Havering council to discuss contingency plans for an epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or tuberculosis (TB).The Department's emergency preparedness division has regular liaisons and discussions with the strategic health authorities' (SHAs) emergency planning leads. The SHAs have responsibility for ensuring that all national health service trusts have major incident plans in place and are prepared to deal with a range of incidents, that include SARS and other infectious diseases. These plans are developed with multi-agency input and are regularly tested and reviewed.With regard to TB, the Chief Medical Officer launched the TB action plan in October 2004. The plan is a commitment to tackle rising rates of TB through 10 key areas of work, and identifies some of the underlying reasons for the rise in TB rates. This is a national plan for England and local TB services are expected to develop their own plans reflecting local conditions.Local TB outbreaks are managed in accordance with standard procedures by local health protection units, which are part of the Health Protection Agency. In the event of a TB outbreak, the local consultant in communicable disease control would trace contacts of people who had significant exposure to someone with TB. Those contacts would be screened for disease and treated as appropriate.The plan is available on the Department's website at"www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAnd GuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4090417&chk= DsgbSP"SARS is not currently regarded as being a world-wide problem. The last cases were in China in 2004. However, the possibility of SARS re-emerging remains and there is a need for continuing vigilance. Clinicians and other healthcare professionals have been asked to remain vigilant to the possibility of SARS, even though the threat to the United Kingdom remains low at this time.Information on SARS and guidance documents are available on the Health Protection Agency's website at "www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/SARS/menu.htm"and also on the Department's website at"www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCare Topics/SevereAcuteRespiratorySyndrome/SARSGeneral Information/fs/en"

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

22968; 439 c829-30W;439 c829-30W

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Disease control Tuberculosis SARS Havering

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk