Tuesday 15 March 2011

TUBERCULOSIS: Foreigners blamed for TB cases rise in UK

The Government has blamed foreigners for a rise in cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Britain. Junior health minister Anne Milton told MPs that officials screening immigrants sometimes failed to pick up symptoms.
She said: "There's no doubt this is a complex problem and, in the last two decades, the increased instances have come from people who are not born in this country.
"The Home Office is currently reviewing the effectiveness of screening and running a pilot of TB screening pre-entry in areas of high instances.
"The problem is, it is not always detectable on entry into this country."
Responding to Linlithgow and East Falkirk Labour MP Michael Connarty, Ms Milton said: "We expect NHS organisations and their partners to ensure early detection, treatment completion and co-ordinated action to prevent and control TB.
"The department and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence have published supporting guidance, but also continue to support the charity TB Alert to raise public and professional awareness."
Mr Connarty said 61% of TB victims in London failed to complete treatment.
He added: "TB in the UK is only behind the level in Spain and Portugal - there were over 400,000 cases in the EU in 2009."
He called for more investment in preventing and treating TB in Britain's big cities, adding: "Most of the people who have TB are people who are not born in the UK."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hoRqpLJOVDxlIgg-an83rG4FYGng?docId=N0367901299600729288A

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