Following the detection of a high rate of infectious disease among refugees and asylum-seekers the Eastern Health Board is to consider introducing an incentive programme to try to get more people to come forward to be screened.
The proposal to go ahead with the plan was agreed at this week's meeting of the board on the suggestion of the vice-chairman, Dr Philip O'Connell. Dr O'Connell referred to the large numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers not availing of voluntary medical screening on entering the State.
He said only 1,411 of the 4,626 new asylum-seekers registered in the EHB area in 1998 were screened for Hepatitis B, and 94 of these tested positive. This meant 6.6 per cent of asylum-seekers, compared to 0.1 or 0.2 per cent of the indigenous population of the region, were affected, he said.
"This is just one of the infectious diseases of concern. I've no interest in witch-hunting or targeting a particular group but I am interested in identifying people who have a problem," Dr O'Connell said.
He also called for the current screening facilities for refugees/ asylum-seekers to be fully resourced without further delay. "Because of pressure on the system at the moment we are not identifying all those with infectious diseases," he said.
The board's chief executive officer, Mr Pat McLoughlin, said there was no indication that incentives would increase uptake of screening. "There is also the issue of whether we should give incentives to get people to avail of something that is in their best interests anyway," he said.
The motion did not refer to refugees in particular. It read: "That the EHB seeks the immediate introduction of an incentive to maximise the uptake of voluntary screening of infectious diseases." The motion was adopted.
A further motion calling on the EHB to give urgent attention to the organisation of services for refugees by putting in place a three- to five-year action/development plan was also adopted.
Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Siobhan Barry, who put down the motion, said such a plan seemed to be sadly lacking at present. There also appeared to be very little co-ordination and integration between services, she said.