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8 Sept 2003 : Column 261W—continued
Sibutramine
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions have been (a) issued and (b) issued to children for sibutramine. [127089]
Ms Rosie Winterton: In 2002, 197,000 prescription items of sibutramine were dispensed in the community in England. Of these, it is estimated that 1,000 items were dispensed to children. There is no information available on the number of children who received sibutramine. Information is not held centrally about drugs prescribed and dispensed in hospitals.
Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been prescribed sibutramine for (a) up to four weeks, (b) one to three months, (c) three to 12 months and (d) longer than 12 months. [127099]
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Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not held centrally. However guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends that people should continue with treatment for more than four weeks only if they have lost 2 kg in weight, and beyond three months if they have lost at least 5 per cent. (5 kg for each 100 kg) of their body weight from the start of the drug treatment. Treatment is not recommended for more than 12 months.
Smoking
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the future use of the terms light and mild on cigarette packets. [127737]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Government recognise that certain terms can be used to suggest that one tobacco product is less harmful than another. We are therefore committed to banning the use of "misleading descriptors."
The Tobacco Products (Manufacture, Presentation and Sale) (Safety) Regulations 2002 prohibit the supply of tobacco products, "the packaging of which carries any name, brand name, text, trademark or pictorial or any other representation or sign which suggests that that tobacco product is less harmful to health than other tobacco products." The supply of such cigarette packets must cease as of 30 September 2003.
The Government would expect the prohibition to include terms such as "light" and "mild".
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to pilot the scheme running at hospitals in Norwich to help patients following the ban on smoking in the hospitals. [127691]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department of Health has no plans to pilot national smoking prevention schemes. With the changes under "Shifting the Balance of Power", it is now for strategic health authorities and their primary care trusts to introduce smoke-free policies.
The Chief Medical Officer's annual report recommended to Government, that among other recommendations, employers should plan to introduce smoke free workplaces; the public sector and health service should take the lead and this year set dates by which their premises will become entirely smoke free.
The Department of Health are also running a pilot study, led by St. George's hospital, to look into developing a toolkit of introducing a smoking cessation service/policy within hospitals. The results of this study should be available in 2005. We have also asked the British Thoracic Society to undertake a survey of hospitals to see what smoking policies they have introduced.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the recommendations of the Chief Medical Officer in relation to smoking in public places. [127631]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Chief Medical Officer's report should leave no-one in any doubt that second-hand smoke is an important public health issue, and the Government are looking very closely at the Chief
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Medical Officer's recommendations. We wish to ensure real progress is being made in the availability of smoke-free public places.
In our 1998 White paper, "Smoking Kills", we agreed that completely smoke-free places are the ideal. The World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which the UK signed in June 2003, also called for action to protect people from tobacco smoke. Taking action on smoking in the workplace and in public places is an important element of international best practice in tobacco control.
We also want to increase the public's awareness of the real health risks from second-hand smoke: not merely the discomfort caused by being in a smoky atmosphere. That is why we have launched an education campaign, making everyone aware of the need to protect others, particularly children, from the harm caused by second-hand smoke. From 1 April 2003, the Department of Health has also taken a lead in making all our buildings smoke-free and we will be encouraging others to follow this lead.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what basis the Government used for establishing smoking cessation targets for primary care trusts. [127623]
Miss Melanie Johnson: There are national targets. Primary care trusts (PCTs) have not been set smoking cessation targets. PCTs were asked to plan together with their strategic health authorities how to support the national Priorities and Planning Framework (PPF) target:
- "to reduce the rate of smoking contributing to the national target of: reducing the rate in manual groups from 32 per cent. in 1998 to 26 per cent. by 2010; 800,000 smokers from all groups successfully quitting at the four week stage by 2006".
Miss Melanie Johnson: International evidence shows that key elements in any tobacco control strategy are advertising and public education. In the 1998 White Paper, "Smoking Kills", the Government committed itself to a programme of public education to persuade smokers to quit and non-smokers not to start.
Education and media campaign spending is shown in the table.
| Year | £ millions |
|---|---|
| 1995–96 | 5.5 |
| 1996–97 | 6.5 |
| 1997–98 | 16.5 |
| 1998–99 | 2.7 |
| 1999–2000 | 15.9 |
| 2000–01 | 13.73 |
| 2001–02 | 13.3 |
| 2002–03 | 13.0 |
| 2003–04 | (80)14.2 |
Note:
(80) Expenditure to date
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This funding includes expenditure on telephone helplines per annum for the NHS Smoking Helpline—£1.1 million; the NHS pregnancy smoking helpline—£152,000; and the NHS Asian Tobacco Helpline—£78,500. £15 million over the three years from 2003–04 to 2005–06 will be available to key health charities, beginning with the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK to develop hard-hitting messages on the dangers of smoking.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Government have spent centrally on smoking cessation programmes in each year since 1997; and how much has been allocated in the current year. [128234]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The national health service stop smoking services were launched in 1999. The services received a total of £76 million over a four year period 1999–2000 to 2002–03.
A further £138 million has been allocated over the three years 2003–06.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department tracks smokers who have given up for longer than four weeks through the smoking-cessation services. [127679]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department of Health does not require the national health service stop smoking services to track smokers who have given up for longer than four weeks, although some services do. Follow-up at four weeks was chosen as a viable, practical way to ascertain initial success, following advice from experts in smoking cessation.
Data from 52-week follow up were originally collected for clients who set a quit date in specialist services in health action zones in 1999–2000. A high proportion of clients were lost to the service and some services found that 52-week follow up took disproportionate resources.
Solvent Misuse
Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action his Department has taken to implement the recommendations arising from the seminar 'Young People and Solvent Misuse: Developing a Shared Approach', held on 19 November 2002. [127795]
Miss Melanie Johnson: The report on outcomes from the seminar 'Young People and Solvent Misuse: Developing a Shared Approach' was circulated to delegates in August. The Department is setting up a national stakeholder group to support the development and implementation of the Department's Action Plan on Volatile Substance Misuse. The stakeholder group will take account of recommendations arising from the seminar.
Speech and Language Therapists
Mr. Dorrell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many vacancies there are in Leicestershire for speech and language therapists; and what proportion this represents of the total number of such posts in Leicestershire. [127272]
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Dr. Ladyman: Information on vacancies is collected via the National Health Service Workforce Vacancy Survey. The Survey defines a vacancy as one that has lasted for three months or more which employers are actively trying to fill.
From the latest information available there are no three-month vacancies for speech or language therapists in Leicestershire.
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