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29 Mar 2004 : Column 1226W—continued

Respiratory Conditions

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for a national service framework for respiratory conditions. [163801]

Dr. Ladyman: There are no plans for a national service framework (NSF) covering respiratory conditions.

The children's NSF will include childhood asthma as an exemplar condition.

The NSF for coronary heart disease already has a reduction in cigarette smoking as one of its major targets. We have also banned tobacco advertising and made smoking reduction aids available on national health service prescription.

Additionally the National Institute for Clinical Excellence issued clinical guidelines for the NHS on 27 February 2004 for the prevention, diagnosis, management and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Seroxat

Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been recorded as having suffered adverse side effects from the prescription of Seroxat. [163566]

Ms Rosie Winterton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) receive reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) submitted by health professionals on a voluntary basis via the yellow card scheme and there is a legal requirement for companies to report suspected ADRs to their drugs.

A total of 8,960 reports of suspected ADRs have been received through the yellow card scheme in association with paroxetine (Seroxat) since 1990.

St. Jude Silzone Heart Valve

Mr Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will take measures to ensure that all surviving UK recipients of the St. Jude silzone heart valve are informed why these valves have been withdrawn from the market; and if he will make a statement; [163194]

(2) if he will take measures to ensure that all UK recipients of the St Jude silzone heart valve are encouraged to contact for advice the hospitals and surgeons where and by whom they were fitted with these valves; and if he will make a statement. [163195]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department issued advice to United Kingdom cardiothoracic surgeons and cardiologists on the problems associated with the St. Jude Silzone heart valve in November 1999 and January 2000. Specifically, the Department advised clinicians of the recall of Silzone heart valves of the increased risk of complications with the Silzone heart valves and of the consequent need to undertake early

29 Mar 2004 : Column 1227W

review of all patients implanted with these valves. Clinicians are responsible for acting on this advice and for bringing relevant information to the attention of their patients.

Mr. Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what communication his Department has had with relevant authorities in the Irish Republic regarding the implications for British and Irish citizens of the withdrawal from the market of the St Jude silzone heart valve; and if he will make a statement. [163196]

Miss Melanie Johnson: The Department notified other European competent authorities of the action taken in the United Kingdom, in relation to Silzone heart valves, via notifications through the Medical Devices Vigilance System on 19 November 1999 and 3 February 2000. These notifications informed other competent authorities of the UK's recommendation to undertake an early review of all patients implanted with the Silzone heart valve and gave background to this

29 Mar 2004 : Column 1228W

advice. Notifications of this type are the recognised method for exchanging information on the safety of medical devices between European Member States.

Substance Misuse

Mr. Keith Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many alcohol treatment centres there are (a) in the UK and (b) the north west; and what the budget is for each. [162616]

Miss Melanie Johnson [holding answer 22 March 2004]: There are 475 alcohol treatment centres in England. We estimate that around £95 million is spent each year on alcohol treatment services in England. Most of the funding for alcohol treatment services is drawn from the mainstream budgets of the national health service and local authorities. The method of funding these services means that it is not possible to give a breakdown at regional level of budgets and expenditure.

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TREASURY

National Statistics

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) births and (b) birth defects there were in the London borough of Hillingdon in each year since 1994; and what the rate of birth defects per 10,000 births was in the borough in each of those years. [163589]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John McDonnell, dated 29 March 2004:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the number of (a) births and (b) birth defects and rates of birth defects per 10,000 births in Hillingdon since 1994. (163589)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for maintaining the National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) notifications in England and Wales. These notifications are collected only for live and stillbirths (i.e. terminations are excluded) and are provided by NHS Trusts on a voluntary basis either directly to ONS or via local congenital anomaly registers that exchange data with ONS. In 1994 there were no registers exchanging information with NCAS. In 2000, NCAS began exchanging data with the North Thames (West) Congenital Malformation Register, which receives more complete information through multi-source ascertainment. It is a hospital-based register and includes information supplied from the maternity unit in Hillingdon. Up to eight malformations can be recorded on NCAS for each baby.

The latest year for which figures are available is 2001. Estimates of the figures requested, covering the period 1994–2001 are shown in the attached table.

Estimated numbers and rates of malformations recorded in the National Congenital Anomaly System⁽³⁴⁾Hillingdon health authority, 1994 to 2001⁽³⁵⁾

	Total live and stillbirths	Estimated number of malformations notified	Rates per 10,000 live and stillbirths
1994	3,542	69	194.8
1995	3,421	48	140.3
1996	3,476	51	146.7
1997	3,487	62	177.8
1998	3,551	38	107.0
1999	3,351	49	146.2
2000(36)	3,328	116	348.6
2001	3,260	87	266.9

⁽³⁴⁾ Notification to this system is voluntary at all stages and therefore may be incomplete, particularly in areas that are not covered by a local registry.

⁽³⁵⁾ Figures provided are by year of birth.

⁽³⁶⁾ In 2000, NCAS began exchanging data with the North Thames (West) Congenital Malformation Register, which receives more complete information through multi-source ascertainment. It is a hospital-based register and includes information supplied from the maternity unit in Hillingdon. It is likely that the inclusion of data from this register contributed to the large increase in the estimated number of malformations in Hillingdon in 2000.

Source:

Estimates based on numbers of babies notified to National Congenital Anomaly System at 31 July 2002 (Health Statistics Quarterly no. 16 Annual update: Congenital anomaly statistics—notifications 2001) and the number of malformations recorded for each notified case.

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Dr. Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new cancer diagnoses were made for teenagers and young adults in the 13 to 24 years age range in each of the last five years. [163890]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Dr. Ian Gibson, dated 29 March 2004:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning how many new cancer diagnoses were made for teenagers and young adults in the 13 to 24 years age range in each of the last five years. (163890)

The latest year for which figures are available is 2000. The number of newly diagnosed cases of cancers for teenagers and young adults aged 13 to 24 years for each of the five years 1996–2000 in England, are given in the table below:

Number of newly diagnosed cases of cancer⁽³⁷⁾ in England, patients aged 13 to 24 years—1996 to 2000

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
Males	676	825	736	765	829
Females	595	618	619	642	712
Total	1,271	1,443	1,355	1,407	1,541

⁽³⁷⁾ International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C00-C97 excluding non-melanoma skin cancer—ICD-10 code C44.

Source:

Office for National Statistics.

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children were aged (a) one, (b) two and (c) three in each of the last three years. [163551]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Robert Spink, dated 29 March 2004:

As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the population for children aged 1, 2 and 3. (163551)

Below is a table showing the mid-2000, mid-2001 and mid-2002 population estimate for children aged 1, 2 and 3 years for England and Wales.

Population aged 1, 2 and 3 years—England and Wales 2000 to 2002⁽³⁸⁾Thousand

Age	2000	2001	2002
1	623.2	603.5	588.0
2	631.8	619.1	602.6
3	648.3	630.0	618.7

⁽³⁸⁾ Mid-year estimates of population.

Source:

Office for National Statistics.

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the incidence of birth defects was in each year since 1996, broken down by region. [163606]

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

29 Mar 2004 : Column 1231W

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John McDonnell, dated 29 March 2004:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the number of birth defects in England and Wales by region since 1996. (163606)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for maintaining the National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) notifications in England and Wales. These notifications are collected only for live and stillbirths (i.e. terminations are excluded) and are provided by NHS Trusts on a voluntary basis either directly to ONS or via local congenital anomaly registers

29 Mar 2004 : Column 1232W

that exchange data with ONS. In 1996 there were no registers exchanging information with NCAS. By 2001, NCAS received more complete information from four local congenital anomaly registers through multi-source ascertainment.

As a result, numbers of notifications in England and Wales have increased since 1996. These registers cover all births in Wales and 24 per cent. of births in England. For the remaining areas NCAS relies solely on SD56 notification forms and is likely to be less complete. Up to eight malformations can be recorded on the system for each baby.

The latest year for which figures are available is 2001. Estimates of the figures requested, covering the period 1996–2001 are shown in the attached table.

Estimated numbers of malformations recorded in the National Congenital Anomaly System⁽³⁹⁾—England, Wales and English Government Office Regions, 1996–2001⁽⁴⁰⁾

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
England and Wales	7,440	7,504	8,220	10,168	10,874	9,423
England	6,577	6,753	6,516	8,575	9,273	8,027
Wales	863	751	1,704	1,593	1,601	1,396
Government Office Regions
North East	331	277	276	289	215	145
North West	1,120	1,122	1,118	1,257	1,744	1,471
Yorkshire and the Humber	858	913	740	1,103	1,186	973
East Midlands	430	534	515	1,593	1,480	1,565
West Midlands	699	713	705	754	690	623
East	641	624	634	693	737	721
London	1,037	951	907	871	1,375	1,157
South East	842	985	980	968	991	762
South West	619	634	641	1,047	855	610

⁽³⁹⁾ Notification to this system is voluntary at all stages and therefore coverage may be incomplete, particularly in areas that are not covered by a local registry. From 1998, ONS began to exchange data with local registers and by 2001, four such registers were exchanging data with NCAS. As a result, the total coverage of NCAS has increased.

⁽⁴⁰⁾ Figures provided are by year of birth.

Source:

Estimates based on numbers of babies notified to National Congenital Anomaly System (NCAS) at 31 July 2002 (Health Statistics Quarterly no. 16 Annual update: Congenital anomaly statistics—notifications 2001) and the number of malformations recorded for each notified case.

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