Vaccinations in schools proposed

(ANSA) - Rome, November 17 - Italy should launch a school vaccination programme to fight infectious diseases, the president of Italy's National Institute of Health Walter Ricciardi told the Senate on Tuesday.
    Italy could halve 97-million-euro annual cost of treating infectious diseases by implementing such a programme, Ricciardi told lawmakers.
    He said successful pilot programmes following the British model were carried out in cities such as Palermo and Rome last year.
    Experts are looking into how to promote vaccinations after statistics revealed that coverage in Italy has fallen below 95% for diseases including tetanus and hepatitis B.
    "Vaccines are the safest and most efficient tool to avoid illnesses," said Ricciardi. "They are tested more than 500 times during manufacture and sale," he added.