VOTE: Bolton is on top of immunising its youngsters
7:49am Wednesday 9th September 2009 in Search
MORE children are being immunised against measles, mum-ps and rubella in Bolton than in most parts of the country.
New figures show that 92 per cent of youngsters in the town received the vaccine before their second birthday — the national average is 85 per cent.
The latest figures from the NHS Information Centre for 2008-9 also show 86 per cent of youngsters have had their first and second doses by the age of five, compared to 78 per cent across the country.
However, there are still children who are not protected and there have been outbreaks of measles and mumps in the region this year.
Graham Munslow, health protection specialist, said: “Immunisation is one of the most important public health measures in terms of saving lives, second only to clean drinking water.
“That is why we are never complacent when it comes to implementing immunisation programmes locally, and continually strive to offer appropriate vaccines to as many eligible Bolton people as possible.”
Anyone who has not had the vaccine, or has only had one dose, should visit their GP, who can immunise people up to the age of 24.
Bolton has also been performing well on immunising 12 to 13-year-old girls to protect them from cervical cancer.
Ninety-three per cent of Year Eight girls received their first dose of the vaccine against the HPV virus, six per cent above the national average.
And 92 per cent have had their first and second doses, compared to 84 per cent across England.
But the report shows only 59 per cent of the girls received all three doses, behind the country as a whole at 70 per cent.
NHS Bolton says this is due to a delay in submitting data and the actual figure should be 85.9 per cent.
The primary care trust was awarded extra funding earlier this year to speed up the programme, reaching more than 7,000 extra young women.
Bolton is also performing above the national average for uptake of vaccines against a range of conditions, including diptheria, tetanus, polio and meningitis C, before children reach their second birthday.
There were more than 1,500 BCG vaccinations in Bolton in 2008-9, mostly for the under ones.
And 73 per cent of people aged 65 and over were immunised against seasonal flu.
cherry.thomas@ theboltonnews.co.uk
