According to draft proposals created by London Health Programs, doctors and health trusts in London are planning to administer TB vaccine to all babies within six weeks of birth, out of concern for the high rates of TB, particularly in London. London Health Programs is a national health trust organization of frontline workers and managers that work with local health trusts to improve treatment and services. As part of the plans, general practitioners are encouraged to test all new patients for the disease, particularly those from TB endemic countries. In addition, family doctors, nurses and midwives, and home care workers would receive extra training to help them recognize symptoms of TB. According to Health Protection Agency statistics, TB rates are now at 9,040 cases in Britain in 2010. This is the highest number recorded since 1979, when there were 9,266 cases. London has the highest rates of TB, 40 percent of the country’s total number of cases.
Onn Min Kon, a consultant at St Mary's Hospital, London and clinical adviser for the London TB Plan, said: 'You go to Joe Public and he thinks that TB is a beaten disease and it's not a concern.
'The public needs to know it is not beaten. The risk is low but in London there are some bits where you could call it endemic.
'Rates in some boroughs are higher than parts of the Indian subcontinent.
'All of us will have plenty of examples of people who are theoretically at low risk, but have TB.'
