Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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129. To ask the Minister for Health if he will highlight the issue of Lyme disease, of which Ireland has the second highest rate in Europe, with the west having the highest number of cases in the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23501/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Health Protection Surveillance Centre of the HSE is responsible for the surveillance of notifiable infectious diseases such as Lyme Disease. The HPSC has begun the process of establishing a Lyme Borreliosis Sub-Committee with the primary aim to examine best practice in prevention and surveillance of Lyme Disease and to develop strategies to undertake primary prevention in order to minimise harm caused by Lyme Borreliosis in Ireland. This will involve, inter alia, raising awareness among clinicians and the general public.

As part of the recent HPSC "Lyme Awareness Week", a supply of information was made available to the public and attention was drawn to a "Tickborn Disease Toolkit" developed by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) which is available on the ECDC website. In addition, this toolkit has been modified for local use in Ireland and posted on the HPSC website. The Deputy will be interested to hear that the ECDC has informed the HPSC that Ireland is the first European Member State to make such extensive use of this material.

One important strand of the work of the Lyme Borreliosis Sub-Committee will be to explore methods to highlight such preventive material with the media and the general public. What is clear from the available evidence is that public health advices such as measures to minimise tick bites are quickly forgotten. It is crucial, therefore, that such messages are repeated frequently and in such media that the general public will take full notice of the messages and act upon them. Obviously, these messages should be prominent in areas where there is a heightened risk of being bitten by an infected tick and the Sub-Committee will be exploring ways to ensure that these messages are brought to the public's attention with frequency and in forms in which they can be most effective.