Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the shortage of the BCG vaccine on the incidence of tuberculosis (a) worldwide and (b) in the UK.

Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine for the prevention of tuberculosis (TB) is procured centrally and supplied to the National Health Service on a national basis. There is no shortage of BCG vaccine in the United Kingdom at the current time.

BCG vaccine remains an important intervention to control TB in uninfected children globally. A scarcity of BCG vaccine would increase the risk of infections in children in high burden settings, and every effort should be made to ensure continued supply.