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Brain-damaged Babies

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of babies were born with brain damage in North Staffordshire in each of the last five years; [12349]

(2) if he will publish figures on the incidence of babies born with brain damage in north Staffordshire in each of the last five years. [12765]

Mr. Boateng: The estimate, from the latest available data, of the percentage of babies born in North Staffordshire reported as having infantile brain damage is as follows:

	Percentage
1989-90	0.3
1990-91	0.4
1991-92	0.6
1992-93	0.4
1993-94	0.1
1994-95	0.5

Source:

Department of Health, Hospital Episode Statistics.

Note:

Infantile brain damage is defined using the following International Classification of Diseases Codes Ninth Revision (ICD 9).

Infantile cerebral palsy: 343.0 to 9.

Birth trauma:

767.0 Subdural and cerebral haemorrhage.

779.0 Convulsions in newborn.

779.1 Other and unspecified cerebral irritability in newborn.

779.2 Cerebral depression, coma and other abnormal cerebral signs.

Corticosteroids

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines his Department issues to GPs prescribing systemic corticosteroids to patients who (a) have not been exposed to chickenpox and (b) are pregnant; and if he will make a statement; [12924]

(2) if he will estimate how many and what percentage of people using corticosteroids carry a steroid treatment card; and if he will make a statement. [12926]

Mr. Milburn: Guidance on prescribing issues, including the use of systematic corticosteroids, is available to general practitioners from a variety of sources. Publications funded by the Department include the British National Formulary, which is regularly updated and provides advice for all doctors on the choice and safe use of corticosteroids. Copies of the BNF are available in the Library.

No information is available on the number of people using corticosteroids who carry steroid treatment cards.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have died from chickenpox in each of the last five years, indicating those cases in which the deceased had been using systematic corticosteroids when infected; and if he will make a statement. [12925]

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Ms Jowell: The number of deaths from chickenpox in England and Wales reported to the Office for National Statistics are given in the following table:

Mortality for chickenpox in England and Wales 1992-96

Year	Number of persons
1992	27
1993	30
1994	23
1995	22
1996	39

Since 1993, ONS codes all the diseases, injuries, drugs, operations and external causes mentioned on death certificates by the certifying doctor or coroner, in addition to the underlying cause of death. Only one of the 114 deaths certified as due to chickenpox, from 1993 to 1996 inclusive, explicitly mentioned the use of corticosteroids. The timing of the drug treatment in relation to the date of infection is not available.

Iproniazid

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the link between iproniazid use and fatal liver damage; and if he will make a statement. [12908]

Ms Jowell: There are no current United Kingdom marketing authorisations for iproniazid. We are not aware of any research being undertaken in the UK into iproniazid.

The main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research is the Medical Council. The MRC is an independent body which receives its grant in aid from the Office of Science and Technology, which is part of the Department of Trade and Industry. The council is not funding any research into iproniazid and fatal liver damage, and its scientific advisors are not aware of any other research on the topic.

Xenotransplantation

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the members of the Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority and (a) their qualifications, (b) their other paid or voluntary employment and (c) their other current appointments; [12900]

(2) on what date membership of the United Kingdom Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority was finalised; and if he will make a statement. [12901]

Mr. Boateng: The membership of the United Kingdom Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority was announced through a Department of Health press release on 14 March 1997. No further appointments to the authority have been made. Details of its members,

27 Oct 1997 : Column: 765

including their qualifications, their main paid employment and their membership of other Government committees are as follows:
Chairman
The Rt. Rev. and Rt. Hon. Lord HABGOOD of Calverton MA PhD
Retired, former Archbishop of York.
Members
Mr John DARK MB BS, FRCS (Edin), FRCS (Eng)
Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Director (Cardio-Pulm, Transplants)
Freeman Hospital, Newcastle.
Professor Herb SEWELL MB ChB, BDS, MSc, PhD, FRCP (Glas), FRCPath
Professor of Immunology Nottingham University. Formerly a Member of the Advisory Group on the Ethics of Xenotransplantation
Professor George GRIFFIN BSc (hons), PhD, MB BS
Professor of Infectious Disease, St. George's Hosp. Member of the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens, Member of the Public Health Laboratory Service Board.
Dr Maggy JENNINGS BSc, PhD
Head of Research Animals Department, RSPCA
Dr Janet M DEWDNEY OBE, BVSc, MRCVS, PhD, FI Biol, FRC Path
Chairman, AdProTech plc.
Professor Sheila MCLEAN LL B, M Litt, PhD, FRSE, FRSA
Professor Law and Ethics in Medicine, Glasgow University. Member, Scottish Higher Education Council, Secretary of State Appointee to the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, Appointed to undertake a Review of the current provisions in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, "Consent and the Law".
Mrs Jean GAFFIN OBE, JP, BSc, MSc
Executive Director of the National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Service.
Dr David COOK MA, Phd
Director, Whitefield Institute, Oxford. Fellow and Chaplain, Green College, Oxford.

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations his Department has received (a) supporting and (b) against xenotransplantation during the consultation period on his Department's advisory group on the ethics of xenotransplantation report; and if he will make a statement. [12902]

Mr. Boateng: Following the publication of "Animal Tissue into Humans", the report of the advisory group on the ethics of xenotransplantation, a consultation exercise was held which asked for submissions on several aspects of xenotransplantation, including the science and its

27 Oct 1997 : Column: 766

regulation. Some 51 responses have been received. These contained detailed analysis of the issues raised by the report and cannot be classed as being either for or against xenotransplantation. Copies of all those responses not made in confidence will be placed in the Library in due course, following consideration of the United Kingdom Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority's advice. In addition to the responses to the consultation exercise, we have received around 15,000 postcards registering opposition to xentransplantation on both medical and ethical grounds.

Artificial Organ Transplants

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many transplants involving artificial organs have been carried out in each of the last 10 years, broken down by health authority district; and if he will make a statement. [12907]

Mr. Boateng: There have been several small trials of artificial organs as alternatives to organ transplantation, but, so far, none of the available artificial organs offers a satisfactory alternative.

Novelty Condoms

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the health risk posed by the availability of novelty condoms from vending machines in entertainment venues and public lavatories; and if he will make a statement; [12916]

(2) what plans he has to restrict the availability of novelty condoms from vending machines in entertainment venues and public lavatories; [12917]

(3) if he will meet representatives from the medical profession and AIDS charities to discuss the risk posed by the availability of novelty condoms in vending machines in entertainment venues and public lavatories; and if he will make a statement. [12918]

Ms Jowell: Novelty condoms are not recommended for use as a barrier to HIV-AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases or as a contraceptive. The Department of Health advises the public to use only condoms which carry either the British Standards Institute kitemark or the European CE mark. As novelty condoms are not classed as medical devices under the Medical Devices Regulations 1994, they should not carry the CE mark, and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health cannot use his enforcement powers under these regulations to restrict their availability. However, any confusion and risk to health caused by novelty condoms being mistaken for genuine condoms would come within the scope of the General Product Safety Regulations 1994, which are enforced by local authority trading standards officers, if there is a significant risk that a novelty condom could be confused with the genuine article and give rise to the transmission of disease then, in the absence of adequate warnings about the hazard, the product could be deemed to be unsafe under the regulations.

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We have not received any representations from the medical profession or AIDS charities to discuss novelty condoms, but we would be happy to consider such a request if approached.

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