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Prostate Cancer
Sir Julian Critchley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will allocate more funds to research into, and finding a cure for, prostate cancer; [7463]
- (2) if he will encourage general practitioners to take a blood test for prostate cancer as part of routine examinations for men over 40 years. [7460]
Mr. Horam: The Department of Health's standing group on health technology has identified carcinoma of the prostate as one of the priority areas for health technology assessment. Two systematic reviews of the diagnosis, management and screening of early localised prostate cancer, commissioned by the Department, have recently been completed. The reports found no justification for the routine use of the prostate specific antigen blood test by general practitioners. There is at present no evidence that the number of prostate cancer deaths could be reduced by screening asymptomatic men. Screening may also lead to unnecessary investigations and treatment, with the risk of inducing anxiety and adverse physical side effects.
The Department's national screening committee will consider screening for prostate cancer as part of its programme of reviews of a wide range of screening programmes in the national health service. Other research projects are under way. The national screening committee will consider any new scientific evidence as it becomes available.
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Sir David Mitchell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the names of the mental health tribunal and clinical team who assessed Douglas Byelong as fit to live in the community; and what assessment he has made of the current system for assessing whether patients detained on mental and criminal grounds should be released. [7814]
Mr. Burns:
It is a statutory requirement that the names of persons concerned in tribunal proceedings should not be made public. The mental health review tribunals are independent judicial bodies and their procedures are defined in the mental health review tribunal rules made by the Lord Chancellor. Copies of the rules are available in the Library. The Department of Health has recently commissioned a research study into the decision making process of the tribunals.
Mr. Alton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the names of past and present members of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Genetics Commission who have been, or are, members of the British Eugenics Society or the Galton Institute. [7896]
Mr. Horam:
The information requested is not held centrally.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been allocated to support research into the causes and treatment of MS in each year since 1990. [7804]
Mr. Malone:
Funding specifically on multiple sclerosis from the Department of Health and the Medical Research Council since 1990 appears in the table.
Mr. Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the amount allocated by each health authority in England to (a) beta-interferon and (b) other drugs used in the treatment of people with MS for the most recent available year; and what sums were spent. [7805]
1989-90: £182,000
1990-91: £181,000
1991-92: £80,000
1992-93: £64,000
1993-94: £154,000
1994-95: £207,000
1995-96: £216,000.
Note:
The MRC also undertakes work under the broader headings of autoimmune disorders and diseases of the central nervous system (£6,280,000 in 1995-96), and neurodegenerative diseases, all of which underpin research into MS.
Mr. Malone: Information is not collected centrally on the amounts allocated for beta-interferon or other individual drugs by individual health authorities.
I refer the hon. Member to my response to the hon. Member for York (Mr. Bayley) on 4 November, column 404 for the latest information on spending on
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beta-interferon drugs. It is not possible to identify the amount spent on other drugs used in the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis.
Mr. Rogers:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of multi-drug-resistant TB have been diagnosed in each of the last five years. [7967]
Mr. Horam:
In 1992, the Public Health Laboratory Service carried out a review of the occurrence of drug resistance in cases of tuberculosis in England and Wales between 1982 and 1991. The review was published in 1993. In 1993, an enhanced surveillance system--the United Kingdom mycobacterial resistance network, MYCOBNET--was established by the PHLS communicable disease surveillance centre to monitor drug resistance in isolates of mycobacterium tuberculosis. Data from the review and the MYCOBNET system are as listed. Direct comparison between the numbers of multi-drug resistant isolates identified during the two periods is not possible because of the different methods used to obtain the information. Multi-drug resistant cases account for around 1 per cent. of notified cases of tuberculosis.
| Year | Number of multi-drug resistant isolates |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 8 |
| 1991 | 14 |
Data from PHLS review published in 1993.
(50) Resistant to isoniazid and rifiampicin with or without resistance to other drugs.
| Year | Number of multi-drug resistant isolates |
|---|---|
| 1993 | 18 |
| 1994 | 42 |
| 1995 | 56 |
Antibiotics
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent of over-prescribing of antibiotics. [8040]
Mr. Malone: No assessment has been made. Health authority medical and pharmaceutical advisers routinely monitor all prescribing by general practitioners, including antibiotic prescribing, to ensure drugs are used appropriately. Local microbiologists and physicians are responsible for the control of infectious diseases, and advise doctors on local bacterial resistance, and advising on antibiotic use and choice. However, it is up to individual clinicians to provide the most effective treatment for the individual patient.
Public Appointments
Mr. Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of the individuals appointed by his Department to public positions in the last year were first identified by the public appointments unit. [8544]
10 Dec 1996 : Column: 153
Mr. Horam: The public appointments unit provides names of suitably qualified candidates for consideration for a wide range of appointments. Information on the source of names of individual appointees to public bodies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
BSE and CJD
Sir Ralph Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 4 December, Official Report, columns 720-21, if he will list the unqualified evidence linking BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease assessed by his Department (a) before and (b) since 25 March; and if he will make a statement. [8341]
Mr. Horam: There is no unqualified evidence linking bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's advice has been drawn up on the basis of the balance of probabilities considering all the various evidence available. Its view is that a connection between exposure to BSE and new variant CJD is likely but not conclusively established.
Section 64 Grants
Ms Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the grants which have been made available under section 64 in 1996 by organisation and amount of grant. [6672]
Mr. Burns [holding answer 28 November 1996]: The information requested has been placed in the Library. Grants of the amounts shown to voluntary organisations have been approved for payment during the current financial year.
Care Home Residents
Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in United Kingdom care homes have preserved rights to income support; what proportion of these people are charged more than they receive from income support; in what circumstances individuals who cannot meet these extra charges are evicted from care homes; and if he will make a statement. [6124]
Mr. Roger Evans: I have been asked to reply.
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