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Health Authority Budgets (Cheshire)

Mrs. Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the budgets allocated by his Department to health authorities in Cheshire for each of the last five years. [36491]

Mr. Horam: The total funds allocated to the health authorities in the county of Cheshire in the period 1991-92 to 1995-96 are listed in the table.

£000

	1991-92	1992-93	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96
Halton DHA	47,047	49,459	46,275	0	0
Warrington DHA	73,405	76,726	75,878	0	0
North Cheshire DHA	0	0	0	119,319	121,017
Crewe DHA	77,947	81,495	85,229	0	0
Macclesfield DHA	67,570	66,805	67,356	0	0
Chester DHA	68,736	74,377	72,180	0	0
South Cheshire DHA	0	0	0	222,201	235,789
Stockport DHA	83,351	86,237	81,739	90,435	95,371
Tameside and Glossop DHA	74,772	78,365	78,909	0	0
West Pennine DHA	0	0	0	170,690	180,883
Cheshire FHSA	24,681	40,163	78,335	97,552	103,274
Stockport FHSA	5,264	7,245	18,341	24,437	28,955
Tameside FHSA	5,286	7,175	10,649	13,515	19,296

The table lists all the district health authorities and family health services authorities which have been located in the country. Tameside and Glossop DHA and West Pennine DHA also covered part of Cheshire, Lancashire and Derbyshire.

Pharmaceutical Services

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that 24-hour general pharmaceutical provision is made available, in line with, the development of GP out-of-hour services; and if he will make a statement. [36244]

Mr. Malone: The national health service provides for an emergency supply of drugs to be available at any time when requested by a doctor. Health authorities are also free to make arrangements to provide a 24-hour pharmaceutical service to meet a local need.

16 Jul 1996 : Column: 491

Behavioural Psychotherapy

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) research he has commissioned and (b) funding he has provided in respect of the advice given during an initial screening for behavioural psychotherapy; and if he will make a statement. [37131]

Mr. Bowis: None. Such advice is a matter for the relevant professional staff.

Alcohol Abuse

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy to promote new initiatives to reduce current levels of alcohol abuse with particular reference to (a) domestic violence and (b) heavy drinking among young people and children; and if he will make a statement. [37129]

Mr. Bowis: We are currently working with the Health Education Authority to develop new health education messages based on the recommendations in our report "Sensible Drinking (1995)". This will include specific advice to the parents and carers of young people who drink alcohol and to the 16 to 24 age group. We will also be placing more emphasis than in the past on avoiding episodes of intoxication in view of the relationship between drunkenness and short-term harm, such as incidents of domestic violence.

Lariam

Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is given to general practitioners by his Department on the side effects of Lariam as an anti-malarial prophylaxis. [36871]

Mr. Horam: General practitioners are informed of the side effects of mefloquine--Lariam--through the manufacturer's data sheet which is approved by the Licensing Authority and made available to doctors. In addition the "British National Formulary" provides information on adverse effects of mefloquine. The Department of Health pays for the formulary to be sent to general practitioners twice a year. Information on mefloquine was circulated to all doctors in the chief medical officer's update 10 in May 1996, and is contained in the book "Health Information for Overseas Travel", a copy of which has been sent to every general practitioner.

Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Medical Advisory Service for Travellers abroad to publish the results of its trials on the effects of Lariam on tourists. [36873]

Mr. Horam: We are aware of the studies being conducted by the medical advisory service for travellers abroad on mefloquine, Lariam. MASTA is an independent organisation and the responsibility for publication of the results of the studies lies with it.

Ms Corston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Malaria Advisory Committee to publish its revised guidelines for the use of Lariam as an anti-malarial prophylaxis; and if the guidelines will be circulated to general practitioners and travel centres. [36875]

16 Jul 1996 : Column: 492

Mr. Horam: The revised guidelines from the malaria reference laboratory for malaria prophylaxis for travellers from the United Kingdom are still being developed. No publication date has yet been set, but it is hoped that they will be published, as previous guidelines have, in a suitable journal with a wide circulation. Their publication will be brought to the attention of all doctors.

Isle of Wight

Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for health what requests he has received from the Isle of Wight council for the provision of health care in conjunction with the request for independence. [36920]

Mr. Horam: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received no requests from the Isle of Wight council for the provision of health care in conjunction with any request for independence.

GP Fundholders

Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current percentage of patients in England who are covered by general practitioner fundholders. [37061]

Mr. Malone: Fifty-two per cent. of the population of England is currently registered with a general practitioner fundholder.

Contaminated Blood Products

Mr. Heppell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 8 July, Official Report, column 21, what actions the Government have taken to encourage (a) research and (b) best treatment for those haemophiliacs infected with hepatitis C through NHS treatment with contaminated blood products. [37081]

Mr. Horam: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 15 July. An additional £1 million has been made available by the Department's research and development division to fund research into improving our understanding to the prevalence, transmission and natural history of hepatitis C virus infection.

The national health service standing group on health technology has identified the evaluation of the use of alpha interferon in the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection as a top priority for research. This is being actively taken forward by the Medical Research Council. A trial development group has met with researchers to help them in the design of a clinical trial. It is intended that patients with haemophilia will be invited to enter the trial. The Medical Research Council is also funding a three-year study to investigate the course and complications of hepatitis C virus-induced liver disease in a group of infected haemophilia patients.

In addition, the Department is giving grant support to voluntary organisations working with those infected with hepatitis C.

Infant Mortality

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the infant mortality rate in each country in the EU; and what assessment he has made of the factors underlying variations. [36889]

16 Jul 1996 : Column: 493

Mr. Horam: The table supplies details of the infant mortality rate in the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. The causes of health variations are complex. They are associated with a range of often interacting factors, including geography, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity, life style and environment.

Infant mortality rate in European Union countries, circa 1993

Country	Year	Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
United Kingdom	(19)1992	6.58
Austria	1994	6.25
Belgium	1989	8.53
Denmark	1993	5.40
Finland	1993	4.40
France	1992	6.82
Germany	1994	5.08
Greece	1993	8.30
Ireland	1992	6.67
Italy	1991	8.22
Luxembourg	1993	5.23
Netherlands	1993	6.29
Portugal	1993	8.73
Spain	1992	7.05
Sweden	1992	5.19

Source:

World Health Organisation European Office 'Health for All' database.

Note:

(19) More up to date figures from the Office for National Statistics indicate that the infant mortality rate in England and Wales in 1995 was 6.1 per 1,000 live births.

Ethnic Minorities

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of staff in his Department and NHS executive are from ethnic minorities, (a) in total and (b) by grade. [37138]

Mr. Horam [holding answer 12 July 1996]: The information requested for the Department and national health service executive is as shown in the table. It does not include data on staff in the NHS executive regional offices. The regional offices were created on 1 April 1996 and full regional office data are not yet included in the Department's information system.

Percentage breakdown of staff by grade and ethnicity for Department of Health (excluding agencies) as at 12 July 1996

	Ethnic minority staff
Grade	(percentage)
UG1	0
UG2	0
UG3	0
UG4	4.1
UG5	2.3
UG6	5.3
UG7	3.5
SEO	4.1
HEO	6.7
EO	18.0
AO	25.4
AA	40.8
Total	13.5

16 Jul 1996 : Column: 494

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