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at nine months. Individual reports from health visitors to be called for in respect of
those children who had failed to commence a course of immunisation by the time
they were 12-13 months old.
(ii) The importance of maintaining immunity by giving a booster dose at about 15
months of age to be emphasized by sending a reminder to the parent to bring the
child to the welfare centre for such booster dose, in addition to an appointment
being made on the child's personal immunisation record card (see page 58 of my
report for 1961).
(iii) In regard to the second booster dose due at about age five, special arrangements to
be made for health visitors to call at the home of the child just before the time that
he is due to commence attendance at school (from four and a half years of age
upwards) to see the parents and to persuade them to bring the child to a welfare
centre for the second booster dose before the child commences school attendance.
To reinforce her request, the health visitor to leave with the parents a letter from
the divisional medical officer, inviting the child to be taken to a welfare centre for
the appropriate prophylactic measure before starting school. Concurrently, head
teachers to be invited to co-operate in persuading the parent to arrange for the child
to have the appropriate antigen before commencing school, by handing to the parent
applying for a child's admission to school a printed copy of a letter from the medical
officer of health pointing out the wisdom of having the child fully protected before
school life begins. To supplement these arrangements an annual review to be made
of the immunisation state of each child in a primary school, following which parents
will be invited to give their consent to any necessary prophylactic procedure or to
take the child to the family doctor. (It is hoped that as a result of annual reviews
there will be every prospect that the child, on entering secondary school, will be
adequately protected against diphtheria, tetanus and poliomyelitis.)
Parental consent is always sought when a child needs immunisation, it having been
assumed that a minor 'in law' would need such consent before an injection could be given.
Consideration has been given to raising the age at which it would be necessary to approach
parents for their consent. Having regard to the varying situations where a person under
21 years of age is legally accepted as being capable of coming to a decision, it has been
decided, in regard to vaccination and immunisation, to continue to require written parental
consent only in the case of infants and children still at school and those adolescents who
have left school but who have not reached their sixteenth birthday.
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