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Smoking
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the adult population smoked tobacco in each of the last five years. [138824]
Yvette Cooper: The latest available data are shown in the table:
| Percentage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Persons | Men | Women | |
| 1994 | 26 | 28 | 25 |
| 1996 | 28 | 28 | 27 |
| 1998 | 27 | 28 | 26 |
Notes:
1. Data rounded to the nearest whole figure
2. Directly comparable information is not available for 1995, 1997 or 1999
Source:
ONS Living in Britain: Results from the 1998 General Household Survey
Health Services (Climate Change)
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what strategic measures he is taking to allow for changes in the demand for health services induced by climate change. [137178]
Yvette Cooper: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment on 13 November 2000, Official Report, columns 469-70W. In addition, the Chief Medical Officer for England commissioned a programme of research into the Health Effects of Climate Change in the United
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Kingdom, which will help to inform health policy development for the future. A draft report is expected to be published for consultation around the end of this year. I will place a copy in the Library at that time.
Pregnancy
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent advice he has taken and from whom on the point at which pregnancy can be said to begin. [138891]
Yvette Cooper: The accepted legal and medical view is that a pregnancy begins at implantation. This has been the policy of successive Governments and is based on advice given to the Department by the Attorney-General in 1983, about the legal position under the Abortion Act 1967.
Emergency Contraception
Mr. Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence his Department has collated on the impact of the morning after pill on the abortion rate; and if he will make a statement. [138892]
Yvette Cooper: A study of self-administration of emergency contraception following advance prescribing has been performed by Glasier et al in Edinburgh 1 . This concluded
- making emergency contraception more easily available . . . may reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies.
It should be noted that fluctuations in the abortion rate may be subject to a number of different factors and it is therefore difficult to attribute any changes to one intervention or event.
- 1 Glasier A and Baird D: The Effects of Self-Administering Emergency Contraception. The New England Journal of Medicine 1998; 339: No. 1 1-4.
Vaccines
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost per child of the MMR vaccine is; and if he will estimate the cost per child if separate vaccinations were given to children for measles, mumps and rubella. [138898]
Yvette Cooper: The United Kingdom is supplied by two manufacturers of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and by one supplier of rubella vaccine. The cost to the Department of purchasing MMR and rubella vaccines is commercially confidential. However, the price of a single dose of MMR vaccine as listed in the British National Formulary is £6.23 for that manufactured by SmithKline Beecham and £10.17 for that manufactured by Aventis Pasteur. The list price for rubella vaccine, manufactured by SmithKline Beecham, is £2.53 per vial.
Children are recommended to receive two doses of MMR vaccine. Rubella vaccine is recommended for non-immune women. Single antigen measles and mumps vaccines are not licensed in the United Kingdom.
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Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the meningitis C vaccine recently introduced in the NHS is the same as the vaccine is authorised for use in the USA. [138837]
Yvette Cooper: The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to introduce and use the new meningococcal Group C conjugate vaccine.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the present MMR vaccine used by the NHS is the same as authorised for use in the USA. [138836]
Yvette Cooper: The United Kingdom is supplied by two manufacturers of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, SmithKline Beecham and Aventis Pasteur. We are advised by the manufacturers that the SmithKline Beecham product is not currently marketed in the United States of America but that the Aventis Pasteur MMR vaccine is. We are also advised that the Aventis Pasteur MMR vaccine marketed in the USA is manufactured and formulated to the same set of specifications as that vaccine used in the United Kingdom.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which attenuated viruses are used in the creation of the MMR vaccine; and for which diseases. [138895]
Yvette Cooper: There are two measles, mumps and rubella vaccines authorised in the United Kingdom. Both contain live attenuated measles, mumps and rubella viruses in the preparation. The combination vaccine is used for active immunisation against these viruses.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children, in each health authority region, have received the MMR vaccination (a) this year and (b) in the last five years. [138897]
Yvette Cooper: The information available about the percentage of children receiving measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations is contained in the Statistical Bulletin "NHS Immunisation Statistics, England: 1999-2000". A copy of the bulletin is in the Library and can also be found on the Department of Health website www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0026.htm.
Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the research commissioned by him on the possible side effects of the meningitis C vaccine most recently introduced in the NHS. [138899]
Yvette Cooper: A number of the studies which led to the licensing of the new meningitis C vaccines in the United Kingdom were undertaken by the Public Health Laboratory Service and funded by the Department. Many of these have already been published in the medical literature and others have been submitted for publication. An up-to-date reference list has been placed in the Library.
Following a recent review of the safety of the new meningitis C vaccines, a joint Statement from the Chairman of the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation was released. Copies of this have also been placed in the Library.
Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children of school age have waited over one year beyond the recorded date for their BCG vaccination in each of the last three years. [138989]
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Yvette Cooper [holding answer 17 November 2000]: BCG vaccine has been in limited supply for some time due to severe manufacturing problems encountered by the sole United Kingdom licensed source, Celltech Medeva. As a result, we had no alternative but to request health authorities suspend their routine schools immunisation programme for 10 to 14-year-olds from September 1999. In the meantime, stocks are being used specifically for those at higher risk.
On 19 July, the Department announced that there is now sufficient supply of vaccine to restart the routine schools programme initially in the London area, where the highest rate of tuberculosis in the country currently occurs. The Department hopes to announce shortly when there will be enough vaccine to restart routine immunisation in the rest of the country.
Information on the number of children of school age who have waited over one year or beyond for their BCG vaccination is not routinely available.
Brittle Bone Disease
Mr. Woolas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what funds he plans to make available for research into the effects and causes of osteogenesis imperfecta; [138800]
- (2) what plans he has to promote awareness of osteogenesis imperfecta; [138798]
(3) what plans he has to meet representatives of the Brittle Bone Society. [138799]
Yvette Cooper: Neither the Department nor the Medical Research Council (MRC), which is the main Government agency for research into the causes of and treatments for disease, are directly commissioning any research projects specifically on osteogenesis imperfecta, at present. However, the MRC is funding research related to osteoarthritis and always welcomes high-quality applications for support into any aspect of human health. These are judged in open competition with other demands on funding. Awards are made according to their scientific quality and importance to human health.
Ministers have not been invited to meet representatives of the Brittle Bone Society but are aware of their work. We value highly the achievements of such societies and their dedication to promoting greater awareness of conditions which are not widely recognised. They provide advice, encouragement and practical help for those unfortunate to be afflicted, and their families, and they support research into the condition's cause and the alleviation of its effects.
The Department provides grant aid to assist the promotion of a better awareness and appreciation of conditions like Brittle Bone Disease, the most common cause of this condition being osteogenesis imperfecta. This is undertaken through the voluntary group "Contact A Family" which maintains a hard copy and website directory of specific and rare conditions in childhood, including family support networks.
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