Press Release

Pest problem to worsen without clear action

Wednesday, August 6 2008

A single government department must take responsibility for supervising and monitoring pest control, a leading environmental health organisation has said today.

The comments made by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) come after the revelation that Britain’s hospitals are ‘infested with vermin’ following figures released by the Conservatives.

Speaking on behalf of the CIEH Chief Executive Graham Jukes said: "A single government department must have the ultimate responsibility for supervising monitoring programmes and implementing pest management measures.

"In the UK control of our most significant pests is loosening when it should be tightening. Far from being relics of the past, incidence of pest-borne disease is a public health issue and the risk will grow in the absence of action.”

The CIEH is also calling on the government to carefully assess the potential threats posed by pest related illnesses as modern living conditions, urban sprawl and climate change make the spread of pests more likely.

Graham Jukes continued: "We do not know in this instance whether these figures released today indicate that the numbers of pests are rising, remain static or have in fact fallen because there is a lack of reliable and historic data to assess the risks from potential threats – this research is crucial and necessary."

At present responsibility for pest control is spread across differing government departments and agencies. In hospitals the Healthcare Commission has responsibility to assess risks while local authority environmental health departments hold responsibility to inspect hospital kitchens and ensuring they comply with food legislation relating to pests. 

The World Health Organization recently launched a book, The Public Health Significance of Urban Pests, which urged governments to better address the rising public health threats posed by pest related illnesses.