Parents have won their fight to have schoolchildren in York and Selby routinely immunised against tuberculosis.

Selby district councillor John McCartney, who has two school-age children, said today he was delighted by the decision to reintroduce automatic TB jabs at schools in both areas.

The Evening Press revealed in March that hundreds of youngsters in York and Selby were not being immunised because North Yorkshire Health Authority decided it could not justify the £80,000 needed to reintroduce a blanket inoculation programme.

While all children between 11 and 14 in the Northallerton, Scarborough, Harrogate and Craven areas have access to the universal TB inoculation policy, it is only available on request at specially-arranged clinics in York and Selby.

Following protests led by Coun McCartney, North Yorkshire Health Authority chairman Susan Wrigley has confirmed the universal BCG programme will be introduced in schools in York and Selby from next April.

Mrs Wrigley said they remained unconvinced of the merits of a schools' BCG vaccination programme, given the very low incidence of TB in North Yorkshire, but were prepared to support its reintroduction with the approval of family doctors.

Coun McCartney said today: "I'm delighted with this decision. I don't see why schoolchildren in Selby and York should be discriminated against just because it's cheaper to deal with the odd case.

"I only found out about the situation when I found a school newsletter in my daughter's bag. It advised parents who wanted their children to have a TB jab to phone a York number, and when there were sufficient numbers an extra clinic could be arranged.

"I think it's wonderful the people of Selby have been listened to."

A North Yorkshire Health Authority spokesman said the old York Health Authority had decided in 1988 to discontinue routine TB vaccination in York and Selby because the disease had virtually disappeared.

When the North Yorkshire Health Authority came into being in 1993, it decided the £80,000 cost of reintroducing could not be justified.

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