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14 May 2003 : Column 322W—continued

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the level was of sexually transmitted infections, broken down by disease, in each year since 1997. [109689]

Ms Blears: Information on the number of new cases (diagnoses) and new cases per 100,000 population by disease, for the years 1997–2001 is shown in the table. This is taken from the statutory reporting of diagnoses made at genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics on form KC60. Data on sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are only collected centrally from GUM clinics where most STIs are diagnosed and treated. STIs diagnosed and treated by general practitioners or in other settings are not available.

Diagnoses and rates for selected conditions, total diagnoses and workload in GUM Clinics: England, Wales and Northern Ireland 1997–2001

		Diagnoses
		1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Infectious syphilis (primary and secondary)	Male	101	88	160	252	613
	Female	50	44	55	75	102
	Total	151	132	215	327	715
Uncomplicated gonorrhoea	Male	8,602	8,649	10,972	14,725	15,903
	Female	4,054	4,180	5,002	6,406	6,794
	Total	12,656	12,829	15,974	21,131	22,697
Uncomplicated genital chlamydial infection	Male	16,985	19,896	22,962	28,100	30,763
	Female	23,598	26,259	30,821	36,700	40,362
	Total	40,583	46,155	53,783	64,800	71,125
Genital herpes simplex virus (first attack)	Male	5,870	6,356	6,302	6,473	6,787
	Female	9,896	10,065	10,279	10,471	11,063
	Total	15,766	16,421	16,581	16,944	17,850
Genital warts (first attack)	Male	32,679	33,670	34,716	34,847	35,487
	Female	30,875	31,255	31,723	31,297	32,185
	Total	63,554	64,925	66,439	66,144	67,672
All diagnoses	Male	228,205	242,681	256,466	276,120	292,060
	Female	277,490	291,136	305,733	324,885	345,778
	Total	505,695	533,817	562,199	601,005	637,838
All diagnoses and workload	Male	464,861	498,537	519,574	561,270	628,743
	Female	548,297	578,855	594,942	634,371	704,167
	Total	1,013,158	1,077,392	1,114,516	1,195,641	1,332,910

14 May 2003 : Column 323W

Diagnoses and rates for selected conditions, total diagnoses and workload in GUM Clinics: England, Wales and Northern Ireland 1997–2001

		Rates (per 100,000 of population)
		1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Infectious syphilis (primary and secondary)	Male	0.36	0.33	0.60	0.93	2.27
	Female	0.18	0.16	0.20	0.27	0.37
	Total	0.27	0.24	0.40	0.60	1.31
Uncomplicated gonorrhoea	Male	30.54	32.46	40.92	54.59	58.96
	Female	14.80	15.22	18.14	23.15	24.56
	Total	22.78	23.71	29.37	38.67	41.54
Uncomplicated genital chlamydial infection	Male	60.30	74.67	85.64	104.17	114.05
	Female	86.16	95.58	111.80	132.65	145.89
	Total	73.05	85.29	98.90	118.59	130.17
Genital herpes simplex virus (first attack)	Male	20.84	23.86	23.50	24.00	25.16
	Female	36.13	36.64	37.29	37.85	39.99
	Total	28.38	30.34	30.49	31.01	32.67
Genital warts (first attack)	Male	116.01	126.37	129.47	129.19	131.56
	Female	112.72	113.77	115.07	113.12	116.33
	Total	114.39	119.97	122.17	121.05	123.85
All diagnoses	Male	810.13	910.83	956.49	1,023.64	1,082.73
	Female	1,013.11	1,059.74	1,108.99	1,174.28	1,249.80
	Total	910.20	986.42	1,033.80	1,099.91	1,167.32
All diagnoses and workload	Male	1,650.27	1,871.10	1,937.75	2,080.76	2,330.89
	Female	2,001.82	2,107.03	2,158.05	2,292.90	2,545.17
	Total	1,823.58	1,990.87	2,049.43	2,188.17	2,439.39

Smoked Food

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what legislation regulates the description of food as smoked. [111472]

Ms Blears: European rules on food labelling are implemented in the United Kingdom by the general provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Labelling Regulation 1996. These make it an offence to describe food in a way that is false, or likely to mislead a purchaser about its nature, substance or quality. Guidance notes accompanying this legislation make clear that terms like "smoked" can easily be abused and suggest that products that have been immersed in, or sprayed with, a solution which imparts flavour and colour should be described as "smoke flavoured" rather than "smoked".

14 May 2003 : Column 324W

Sunbeds

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had regarding health risks associated with the use of sunbeds. [110545]

Ms Blears: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave him on 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 111W.

TB

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the strategic national plan to deal with tuberculosis. [109113]

Ms Blears: The tuberculosis action plan is currently being finalised and will be published shortly.

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