Immunisations: childhood immunisation programme

The population of Scotland, and in particular children, are now protected through immunisation against a number of infectious diseases.

These webpages focus on diseases where the main form of control is routine immunisation in children carried out by the national childhood immunisation programme. As from September 2006, several changes to the childhood immunisation programme have been made, including the introduction of a new vaccine to protect against pneumococcal infection. Click here (237kb) for more details of these changes. The childhood immunisation programme now routinely offers protection against the following diseases:

• Diphtheria
• Tetanus 
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Polio 
• Haemophilus influenzae type b  (Hib)
• Meningococcal C disease (Men C)
• Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)
• Pneumococcal infection

The Health Scotland Immunisation site provides more detailed information on the national childhood immunisation programme and vaccines.

Please click here (Other vaccine preventable diseases) for information on other infections where vaccines exist but are not included as part of the national childhood immunisation programme.