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Flu Vaccinations: Pensioners

Volume 454: debated on Wednesday 6 December 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of those pensioners eligible in each health trust area in Northern Ireland had received an influenza vaccination as of 30 November; and what steps he is taking to increase the vaccination of eligible pensioners. (104634)

The information is not available in the format requested.

Since the commencement of the 2006-07 influenza vaccination programme at the start of October, nearly half of those aged over 65 years had been vaccinated by 31 October. The following table gives details for each health board area.

Percentage

Health board

Uptake rate of 65+ population receiving influenza vaccine

EHSSB

38.9

NHSSB

56.1

SHSSB

57.3

WHSSB

57.0

NI

49.2

1. Percentages collated by Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre for NI provided from data collected from GP practices.

2. At the time of collating the above figures, 9 per cent. of all practices are still to forward their data returns, therefore the actual uptake is higher than these figures suggest.

3. The uptake rate for 30 November will be available mid-December

The influenza vaccination programme in Northern Ireland is well established and now in its sixth year. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Health liaised with voluntary and community organisations for older people to raise awareness of the launch of the campaign, and this year the launch coincided with Age Awareness Week. Those eligible for immunisation receive a personal invite from their GP along with a detailed information leaflet. In addition, many HSS Trusts, GPs and community pharmacists take action to increase uptake at a local level.