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Stem Cell Research

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps the Government are taking to support stem cell research to combat disease. [77489]

Ms Blears: The Government believe that the UK is well placed to remain a world leader in stem cell research.

The Government have been working with funding agencies and other research bodies to make stem cell research a priority area for funding. The Medical Research Council (MRC) has taken the lead with other funders in developing a national Stem Cell Initiative.

Outcomes during 2002 include new appointments and research support, the establishment of the national stem cell bank and the organisation of a major stem cell conference that was opened by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Department for Trade and Industry Lord Sainsbury and attended by 400 delegates from 10 countries, including representatives of 20 companies.

Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what resources are being allocated to the setting up of the stem cell bank. [77491]

Ms Blears: The Medical Research Council (MRC) announced details of the new national stem cell bank in September 2002. MRC has awarded a grant to the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) to establish and run the United Kingdom stem cell bank for an initial period of three years at a total cost of #2.6 million. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) will contribute 25 per cent., of the set up costs; MRC will manage the grant.

The grant will commence on 1 January 2003 and the funding profile is as follows:

	#000
Year 1	472
Year 2	1,305
Year 3	822
Total	2.599

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Additional moneys will be sought for phase two of the bank, specifically relating to increasing capacity for therapeutic purposes.

Stents

Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of (a) drug coated and (b) plain stents; and if he will publish relative success rates. [78580]

Ms Blears [holding answer 31 October 2002]: The Department referred drug coated stents, also called drug eluting stents, to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) on 20 May this year for appraisal. NICE will produce technology appraisal guidance for the National Health Service on the clinical and cost effectiveness of drug eluting stents and on the appropriate use of this new technology. The Department does not currently collect information on the number of percutaneous coronary interventions that involve the use of stents or the relative success rates of different types of stent.

Mr. Page: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has issued to primary care trusts regarding the use of drug coated stents. [78581]

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Ms Blears [holding answer 31 October 2002]: The Department has not issued any guidelines to primary care trusts regarding the use of drug coated stents, also called drug eluting stents. However, the Department referred drug eluting stents to the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) on 20 May this year for appraisal. NICE will produce technology appraisal guidance for the National Health Service on the clinical and cost effectiveness of drug eluting stents and on the appropriate use of this new technology.

Suicide

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have attempted suicide in each of the past five years and have been admitted to hospital as a consequence. [78047]

Jacqui Smith: Information on the number of people who have attempted suicide in each of the last five years and been admitted to hospital as a consequence is not collected centrally.

The table shows the number of finished consultant episodes in national health service hospitals with a primary diagnosis of injury and poisoning between 1996–97 and 2000–01 England.

	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–2000	2000–01
All completed injury and poisoning episodes	744,870	765,560	747,260	775,130	761,220
No external cause given	110,190	113,620	111,550	114,690	120,500
Percentage of total injury and poisoning	14.8	14.8	14.9	14.8	15.8

Note:

This information is taken from Hospital Episode Statistics system (HES) and relates to in-patients who have finished their hospital episodes under the care of a consultant and have been discharged, transferred to another hospital or consultant specialist or died.

Surgical Procedures (Safeguards)

Mr. Steinberg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many surgical procedures have taken place in the private sector in the last six months; and what safeguards are in place to prevent a conflict of interests of those medical staff working in both the private and public sector. [78697]

Mr. Hutton: The Department does not collect information on the number of surgical procedures that take place in the private sector. We expect doctors who work both in private and public sector, like all doctors, to behave in a professional manner. The General Medical Council's ethical guidance Good Medical Practice states that doctors must not put pressure on patients to accept private treatment and must always act in their patients' best interests when making referrals and providing or arranging treatment or care.

Teenage Pregnancy Strategy

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy commenced; how many girls in England and Wales (a) under 16 years of age and (b) under 18 years of age expressed as a total figure and as a percentage of the total number of girls, in each age range, have been provided with (i) contraception and (ii) emergency contraception in schools, pharmacies, family planning clinics and other establishments authorised to provide contraception since the commencement of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. [78003]

Ms Blears: Information is not available in the form requested.

Information about the number of girls under 16 and aged 16–19, and rates per 100 population attending family planning clinics are available in the statistical bulletin XNHS Contraceptive Services, England: 2001/02" copies of which are available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0220.htm.

Information for 2002–01 and 1999–2000 is also available in statistical bulletins for the relevant years, copies of which are available in the Library.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many boys in England and Wales (a) under 16 years of age and (b) under 18 years of age, expressed as a total figure and as a percentage of the total number of boys in each age range, have been provided with contraception in schools, pharmacies, family planning clinics and other establishments authorised to provide contraception since the commencement of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. [78004]

Ms Blears: Information is not available in the form requested.

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Information about the total number of males attending family planning clinics and the rate per 100 population, is shown in Table 2 of the statistical bulletin XNHS Contraceptive Services, England: 2001–02". Data is included from 1991–92 to 2001–02 but is not broken down by age. The bulletin is available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.doh.gov.uk/public/sb0220.htm.

Transfusions

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the proportion of patients requiring transfusion plasma who received only virus inactivated products in the past year. [75002]

Ms Blears: No data are collected centrally on the proportion of virally inactivated fresh frozen plasma (FFP) received by patients. In April 2002, the national blood service (NBS) introduced methylene blue treatment of FFP for neonates and children born after 1 January 1996. United Kingdom FFP is already a very safe product. To minimise the risk from viruses, it is made only from previously tested blood donors. The current high levels of safety are achieved by screening out potential high risk donors and then further testing every unit of donated blood for the presence of infections, such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. FFP produced by the NBS, using UK donors, has also been leucodepleted to remove white cells, which evidence suggests may carry the greatest risk of transmitting vdD. A commercially produced, pooled solvent detergent treated FFP is licensed in the UK and available to the National Health Service.

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the use of methlyene blue treated fresh frozen plasma in children. [75006]

Ms Blears: Provision of methylene blue (MB) treated fresh frozen plasma for children born after 1 January 1996 is part of a larger strategy to provide single unit, virus inactivated non-United Kingdom plasma for this group. Steps are actively being taken to find a safe, reliable source of plasma from the United States, an area free of BSE. The use of a non-pooled product minimises the risk of spread of pathogens, which may not be susceptible to the pathogen inactivation process. Currently, MB is the only available product for virally inactivating single unit plasma.

This policy will be kept under review by the Government's expert advisory committee on the microbiological safety of blood and tissues for transplantation.

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