A new screening service for tuberculosis will soon be available to patients visiting GP surgeries in Harrow.

The service will focus on patients aged 16 to 35 who have arrived in the UK in the past five years having previously lived in a high risk tuberculosis (TB) country.

They will be asked to complete a screening questionnaire and invited to have a blood test for latent TB.

Those with positive results will be referred to Northwick Park Hospital’s TB team for more tests.

Dr Mark Levy, who is overseeing the TB project on behalf of Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “We’re being more proactive and not waiting for cases to present themselves.

“It affects around 60 people per 100,000 population but can easily spread among a family living in overcrowded accommodation.

“There is still a lot of stigma around TB but it is treatable with antibiotics and is a free service.”

Harrow has the fifth highest number of people with TB in London, partly a reflection of a large community from countries with high risk of the disease.

The majority of TB cases are latent and usually don’t present with symptoms unless the disease has become active - sometimes after a number of years.