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Parades

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will collate and publish data from police authorities on (a) the number of towns in which St. Patrick's Day parades are held each year, (b) police estimates of the number of participants in parades of over 1,000 persons for each of the last 10 years and (c) the number of parades which raised public order concerns. [66963]

Mr. Boateng: This information is not held centrally. There are no plans to request this information from police authorities, which could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Correspondence (Political Impartiality)

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to his Department's officials on the inclusion of party political material in correspondence; how he monitors the political impartiality of his officials with respect to the letters they send out; and if he will make a statement. [67153]

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Mr. Straw: Civil servants are required under the terms of the Civil Service Code to conduct themselves with integrity, impartiality and honesty, and in such a way as to deserve and retain the confidence of Ministers and potential future Ministers. This is supported by a duty placed on Ministers not to use public resources for party political purposes, to uphold the political impartiality of the Civil Service and not to ask civil servants to act in any way which would conflict with the Civil Service Code.

If the hon. Member has a specific letter in mind and would like to give me the details I will of course consider the matter very carefully.

HEALTH

Blood Products

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice the Chief Medical Officer has issued to (a) public officials, (b) civil servants and (c) Ministers facing the risk of infection with hepatitis A on overseas visits, on the choice to be made between British-derived -(gamma-)globulin and the alternative hepatitis A vaccine. [61058]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 27 November 1998]: Advice to all these groups is the same as for other travellers.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what efforts have been made to obtain alternative supplies of hepatitis A vaccine as an alternative to British-derived -(gamma-)globulin; and with what results. [61052]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 27 November 1998]: There are circumstances where Hepatitis A vaccination is not clinically appropriate because of the time delay between its administration and the resulting protection becoming effective.

Two licensed Hepatitis A vaccines and non United Kingdom sourced gammaglobulins are already available.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will assess the advantages and disadvantages of banning the use of British-derived -(gamma-)globulin; [61055]

(2) what assessment he has made of the advantages of a ban on the use of British-derived Anti-D. [61048]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 27 December 1998]: On 26 February 1998 the Committee on Safety of Medicines advised that the National Health Service Bio Products Laboratory and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service's Protein Fractionation Centre take steps to source products from plasma derived from outside the United Kingdom including Anti-D and gamma globulin. The Committee further advised that this should be done within a timeframe to be agreed with the committee, giving regard to the effects on the supply of all products but especially of vital and less readily obtainable life saving products. In the meantime, the Committee did not advise withdrawal of licensed UK sourced Anti-D and gamma globulin products. I have accepted the Committee's advice and will keep the matter under review in the light of any further advice or changed circumstances.

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Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment he has made of the risk of contamination of British-derived -(gamma-)globulin stocks within the NHS with the infective agent of new variant CJD; [61056]

(2) what assessment he has received of the risk of contamination of British-derived Anti-D stocks within the NHS with the infective agent of new variant CJD. [61049]

Ms Jowell: [holding answer 27 November 1998] The Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) completed its review of the sourcing of blood products in May and advised that the theoretical risk that new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease could be transmitted by blood products could not be discounted. The Committee further advised that The National Health Service Bio Products Laboratory and the Protein Fractionation Centre should move to sourcing products from plasma derived outside the United Kingdom within a time frame agreed between the CSM and giving due regard to the need for uninterrupted supply of all products including Anti-D and gammaglobulin.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Canadian Government on the importation of British blood products into that country. [61146]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 27 November 1998]: We have had no such discussions with the Canadian Government.

No officials at the National Blood Authority (including the Blood Products Laboratory) have had discussions with the Canadian Government about the issue of importing blood products from the United Kingdom to Canada.

However, officials will continue to maintain close contact with their counterparts in Canada and a number of other countries on issues related to blood products.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what efforts have been made to obtain alternative supplies of ready-made Anti-D from foreign sources; and with what results;

(2) what efforts have been made to obtain alternative supplies of ready-made -(gamma-)globulin for hepatitis A protection from foreign sources; and with what results. [61051]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 27 November 1998]: In the case of anti-D it is crucial to maintain licensed supplies of this essential treatment and non United Kingdom sourced product made in this country will be available from mid 1999. In the meantime one licensed non UK derived product is already available, and we are exploring other sources. There are currently adequate supplies of licensed non UK sourced gammaglobulin products in the country.

The Department's advice to doctors on all issues relating to immunisation is contained in "Immunisation against infectious disease" (1996) and is an Her Majesty's Stationery Office publication. This advice states that active immunisation with Hepatitis A vaccine is the preferred method of protection against Hepatitis A infection.

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Spongiform Encephalopathy (Transmission)

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the methods available to prevent transmission of spongiform encephalopathy between animals are suitable to be used for humans. [61057]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 27 November 1998]: No. The potential of prophylactic medicines has been demonstrated in rodents under laboratory conditions, but has not been developed for use in natural disease in either animals or humans.

In so far as modes of transmission of spongiform encephalopathies are understood, any prevention or control measure must be carefully evaluated for its safety and efficacy (by research study where appropriate). This would be necessary to establish whether it has wider applicability beyond the species in which its effectiveness had apparently been demonstrated.

Mr. Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to implement the recommended autoclave regime set out in Annex B, Table B.1 of the joint Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens/ Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee Working Group document entitled "Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents: Safe working and the prevention of infection". [61059]

Ms Jowell [holding answer 27 November 1998]: The recommended autoclave regime set out in Annex B, Table B1 re-iterates previous advice from the Department, first issued in 1981. Therefore, the autoclave regime in itself is not new advice. The main change in the 1998 guidance with respect to surgical instruments is to advise disposal of all instruments used on patients with clinical symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and not just those used for neurological and ophthalmological surgery.

The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens/ Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee guidance gives advice to employers on the precautions needed to comply with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations with respect to the agents of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies.

The Department has publicised the updated guidance. In particular, on 28 April 1998 the Department's Deputy Chief Medical Officer wrote to the National Health

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Service announcing publication of the updated guidance. He asked that it be drawn to the attention of relevant staff, specifically those with responsibility for infection control and those responsible for re-processing medical devices. In his letter he highlighted that the annexe on decontamination would be particularly relevant.

It is the responsibility locally of trusts to ensure that such guidance is adhered to.

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