Written question asked by Damian Green (Conservative) on Tuesday, 24 June 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 June 2008. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 July 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Immigrants: Tuberculosis

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which countries inbound passengers to the United Kingdom are tested for tuberculosis; and what percentage of passengers from each country were tested in the latest period for which figures are available.

Answer: All passengers who do not possess a valid pre-screening certificate for tuberculosis and are seeking leave to enter the UK for more than six months, and who have travelled from a country where the tuberculosis incidence rate is higher than 40 cases per 100,000 of the population, are referred to the Port Medical Inspector for tuberculosis screening. Around 135 countries currently have this incidence rate of tuberculosis and can be found at the World Health Organisation website:"http://www.who.int/en/"

Secondary information