Survey of BCG vaccination policy in Europe: 1994-96

A retrospective survey, based on a standardized questionnaire sent to qualified public health experts in tuberculosis in 50 European countries, was carried out to evaluate the following: concordance between national vaccination programmes and WHO recommendations on BCG vaccination for prevention of tuberculosis; relation between BCG vaccination and revaccination policy and the tuberculosis epidemiological situation; and differences in BCG vaccination policy between Western and Central-Eastern European countries. The results obtained (from 41 (82%) of the 50 countries) revealed that BCG vaccination programmes met WHO recommendations in 44% of European countries. Mass primary vaccination and general revaccination were extremely common in countries where the prevalence of tuberculosis was high. A highly significant difference was found between Western and Central-Eastern European countries in terms of their adhesion to WHO recommendations. Within Central-Eastern Europe no difference was found between countries that had or had not been part of the former Soviet Union. The implementation of WHO recommendations into national tuberculosis programmes must be intensified, based on the available body of evidence. Preventive methods whose cost-effectiveness has not been properly established should be discouraged.