Issue - meetings

Fiona Field, Director of Governance and Strategic Planning, Central and Eastern Cheshire Primary Care Trust, will verbally update the Committee on the current situation with Pandemic Flu.  

She will also update the Committee on the uptake of the HPV vaccination programme against cervical cancer – report attached.

The Committee was updated on the current position with Pandemic Flu.  At 17 November 2009, 11,508 people had been prescribed anti viral medicine in the Primary Care Trust (PCT) patch.  The Vaccination campaign was now underway with GPs contacting high risk groups to be vaccinated first; these included pregnant women, people with chronic illnesses and health and social care workers.  Each GP practice had received 500 doses of vaccine and the PCT had received 500.  From week commencing 23 November many more doses of vaccine would be received and a mass vaccination was still planned with children and young people to be the next in line.  Those who had been treated for Pandemic Flu would still be vaccinated because it was not possible to confirm the numbers of Pandemic Flu cases as people were no longer swabbed to test for the virus.  People who received the seasonal flu vaccine could have the Pandemic Flu vaccine too.

The Committee was also updated on the HPV vaccination programme which was part of the Cervical Screening programme.  There was a good uptake in the PCT patch but there had been a significant reduction after a death that had occurred following vaccination which had subsequently been found not to have been connected to the vaccination.  The Committee noted a publicity leaflet from the PCT outlining the reasons for girls to be vaccinated.

RESOLVED:  That the update on Pandemic Flu and the HPV vaccination programme be noted.