News Date: Wednesday 31st January 2007
Tim calls for greater commitment from Government on tackling head lice in children
East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton has tabled a Parliamentary Motion calling on the Government to provide more information and help for families struggling to keep their children free from head lice.
Tim is calling for the Department of Health to ensure that community health providers are made aware that families can get free NHS prescriptions for their children who have head-lice. The Bug Buster Kit, a registered medical device, produced on a not-for-profit basis by the London-based charity Community Hygiene Concern, is the only combing cure that has undergone successful clinical trials reported in peer-reviewed journals.
Tim commented:
"Head lice are an ever-present and recurring problem for parents, as anyone who has a child of school-age will appreciate and early detection of head lice is crucial to their control.
"The Department for Education and Skills urgently needs to explain to primary schools the importance to public health, school and family wellbeing of promoting participation in at least one of three national bug busting days run by the Community Hygiene Concern."
ENDS
Note to Editor:
1) For a full text of EDM 728 please see below or visit http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=32419&SESSION=885
That this House recognises the evidence, produced by the Bug Busting programme, run by the charity Community Hygiene Concern, that giving information to parents in the early detection and life-cycle of head lice is crucial to their control and whole-school participation in bug busting days prevents head lice from circulating; welcomes the findings of studies made by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that a high proportion of parents provided with a bug buster kit use it repeatedly to detect and remedy head lice in their whole families, without having to use individual treatment products; calls on the Department of Health to ensure that community health providers are made aware that families often gain sustainable, cost effective control with a bug buster kit; and further calls on the Department for Education and Skills urgently to explain to primary schools the importance to public health, school and family wellbeing of promoting participation in at least one of three national bug busting days.
2) For more information on the about the Bug Busting Programme please contact Community Hygiene Concern on 020 7686 4321 or at bugbusters2k@yahoo.co.uk
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