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Children at Risk
Mr. Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, by local authority, the funds currently allocated by his Department to fund local authority services for children who are at risk. [3978]
Mr. Burns: The total provision made for English local authorities in respect of children's services (including services for children at risk) amounts in the current financial year to £1,754.7 million. This provision, however, is not hypothecated and it is for individual local authorities to determine their own spending priorities in the light of local needs. In addition, grants totalling £9.3 million are also available to local authorities in 1996-97 for services provided by guardians ad litem and for services provided to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.
European Health Ministers (Meetings)
Mr. Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the dates on which European Health Ministers are to meet in the next six months and the subjects to be discussed. [4696]
Mr. Malone: The Health Council is due to meet in Luxembourg on 2 June 1997 under the forthcoming Dutch presidency of the European Union. The subjects to be discussed will not be agreed until nearer that date. No other formal meetings of European Community Health Ministers are currently planned during the next six months. European Health Ministers may attend the world health assembly in Geneva provisionally scheduled for 5 to 16 May 1997.
Beef and Milk (Bacteria)
Ms Quin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what action the Government have taken to inform the public about the health effects of E. coli 0157:117 bacteria in beef and unpasteurised milk; [3712]
- (2) what information the Government have issued to health service providers concerning the public health effects of E. coli 0157:117 bacteria in beef and unpasteurised milk. [3714]
Mr. Horam: The Government act to improve food safety through a combination of legislation, codes of practice and advice, including leaflets. This is directed at the professions and the public, especially those in
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vulnerable groups. We attach great importance to the wide dissemination of information to ensure the importance of safe handling of food is understood by all. This information is relevant to all the organisms which cause food poisoning, including E. coli 0157.
Thorough cooking of food will destroy these organisms and this is stressed in all the advice we give. Members of the vulnerable groups are also advised to avoid uncooked food which carries a high risk of contamination.
The Chief Medical Officer has recommended that beefburgers should be cooked until the juices run clear and there are no pink bits inside. This advice was first given in 1991 and has been repeated since. We have recently revised the leaflet, "While you are pregnant: safe eating and how to avoid infection from food and from contact with animals" which gives advice on safe eating including raw meat and unpasteurised milk. This advice is repeated in the Health Education Authority's pregnancy book. The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food have issued similar advice through their "Foodsense" leaflets. We have also published general guidance in "Food Handlers Fitness to Work: Guidance for Food Businesses, Enforcement Officers and Health Professionals". Copies of all these publications are in the Library.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring procedures his Department and the Medicines Control Agency follow to ensure that the conduct of phase 1 clinical trials is in compliance with good clinical practice guidelines. [3872]
Mr. Malone:
In accordance with advice from the Medicines Commission, phase 1 clinical trials are self-regulated by the professional concerned. The Department and its Medicines Control Agency have no procedures to monitor the conduct of these trials.
Mr. Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what responsibility the Licensing Authority has for the conduct of phase 1 clinical trials in healthy volunteers. [3877]
Mr. Horam:
Studies on healthy volunteers are not clinical trials within the definition of the Medicines Act 1968 and therefore are not subject to regulation by the licensing authority.
In the United Kingdom, studies on healthy volunteers are self-regulated by the medical profession and pharmaceutical industry. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry established a committee in 1969 to investigate and advise on medical experiments involving pharmaceutical company staff volunteers and published a set of guidelines in 1970 which were updated in 1984 and 1990. The Royal College of Physicians published a report, "Research on Healthy Volunteers", October 1986 which made a number of recommendations to those involved in conducting healthy volunteer studies.
Mr. Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what procedures (a) his Department, (b) the Licensing Authority and (c) the Medicines Control Agency follow to ensure safety of volunteers in phase 1 clinical trials; [3878]
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Mr. Horam:
Most phase 1 clinical trials are carried out for pharmaceutical companies. Under Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry guidelines they must first have obtained the approval of an independent research ethics committee. These guidelines require independent research ethics committees to prepare an annual report in accordance with recommendations from the Royal College of Physicians. Where, less commonly, it is proposed to undertake these trials in the national health service, the approval of a local research ethics committee must be obtained. The Department of Health issued guidance to the NHS on the operation of LRECs in 1991, HSG(91)5, copies of which were placed in the Library.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made in his Department's review of the vaccinations available on the NHS. [3873]
Mr. Horam:
As with all policies, we review the arrangement for vaccines on an on-going basis. In particular we are considering the inconsistencies and ambiguities that have arisen in the arrangements for travel vaccines over the years as new vaccines have been developed and new recommendations for vaccine use have been implemented. The review of the current arrangements is an on-going one and any changes in policy will be communicated to those with an interest.
Mr. Simon Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospitals in the United Kingdom undertake mandatory ante-natal screening for hepatitis B. [3874]
Mr. Horam:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron) on 22 July 1996, Official Report, column 118.
Mr. Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the number of hepatitis B carriers in the United Kingdom. [3875]
Mr. Horam:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Halifax (Ms. Mahon) on 12 July 1996, Official Report, column 559.
Mr. Hughes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of hepatitis B carrier is accounted for by "at risk" groups. [3876]
Mr. Horam:
There are no national data collected on the number of chronic carriers of hepatitis B that fall into "high risk" groups. The Public Health Laboratory Service communicable disease surveillance centre receives reports of acute hepatitis B infection through the voluntary confidential reporting by laboratories of confirmed cases. Information on risk exposure is available with approximately two thirds of these reports. For details, by former regional health authority for the three years
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1993-95, I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Rother Valley (Mr. Barron) on 22 July 1996, Official Report, columns 120-21.
Mr. Churchill:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the average cost per annum to public funds of the health care costs of (a) the average retirement pensioner and (b) a retirement pensioner in the last two years of their life; and what proportion (c) constitutes of an individual's life-time health care costs. [4381]
Mr. Burns:
Figures showing the annual cost of the health care of retirement pensioners are not collected. However, hospital and community health services expenditure for people aged 65 and over was estimated at £1,195 per person in 1994-95.
Statistics on the cost to public funds of health care in the last two years of a retired person's life are not available.
Mr. Bayley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he intends to publish the 1995 public health common data set (a) on disk and (b) in print. [4766]
Mr. Horam:
The 1995 public health common data set containing data for 1994 was released last year on disk. The printed version was published in April 1996. Both versions have been placed in the Library.
(2) what procedures (a) his Department and (b) the Medicines Control Agency follow to ensure appropriate monitoring of ethics committees considering and approving phase 1 clinical trials. [3879]
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