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11 Jan 2007 : Column 693Wcontinued
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the Food Standards Agency was first informed that the frozen ready-to-eat meals recalled on 14 December might be contaminated with glass. [113025]
Caroline Flint: The Food Standards Agency was first notified during the late afternoon of 12 December 2006 that a range of frozen ready to eat meals was potentially contaminated with glass and would be recalled by the supplier. Subsequent investigations on the 13 December to verify the extent of the problem identified that further products were also implicated. Recall notices appeared in the national press on the 14 and 15 December.
Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the cost of membership of a (a) private and (b) local authority-run gym in each year since 1997; what assessment she has made of the health benefits of gym membership; and if she will make a statement. [113360]
Caroline Flint: The Department has worked closely with the fitness industry to establish a National Quality Assurance Framework for Exercise Referral and Register of Exercise Professionals to support the important contribution that gym-based exercise can make to health.
While no market research has been conducted by the Department of Health to map the cost of membership of private and local authority gyms, a recent report by
Deloitte and Tarp Worldwide on behalf of the Health and Fitness Foundation considered the impact of cost on exercise, including health club and leisure centre membership.
The health benefits of gym membership relate to the level of participation by the individual. According to the Sport England Active People Survey conducted between October 2005 and October 2006, 10.5 per cent. of the adult population went to the gym at least once in the previous four weeks. Of these, 16.8 per cent. met the Chief Medical Officers (CMO) recommendation of at least 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity on five or more days of the week, exclusively through gym-based exercise. 27.9 per cent. of those who went to the gym at least once in the previous four weeks, were also reported as meeting the CMOs recommendation through moderate/vigorous intensity sport and active recreation. According to the survey, the average duration of a visit to the gym is 76 minutes. Gym-based exercise is likely to confer a significant general health benefit for those who participate regularly.
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the introduction of health trainers; which primary care trusts (PCTs) have employed health trainers; how many health trainers have been appointed by each of those PCTs; and if she will make a statement. [113174]
Caroline Flint: We do not have information on health trainers broken down by primary care trust (PCT). The programme for 2006-07 has been rolled out across spearhead PCTs with 2007-08 seeing the programme expanded to all PCTs.
We do, however, have an overall figure of health trainers currently recruited to the programme, which stands at approximately 900. The vast majority of these are sited in spearhead PCTs.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding she has given to the Staying Alive HIV/AIDS prevention campaign in each year since 1998-99. [113027]
Caroline Flint: The Department has not funded the Staying Alive HIV/AIDS prevention campaign. The Department for International Development has, however provided funding in support of this campaign.
Dr. Naysmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps her Department will take to increase the numbers of human sperm donors; [113167]
(2) how many donations of human sperm in England were made in each of the last 10 years; [113168]
(3) how many patients have been treated with human donated sperm in each of the last 10 years. [113208]
Caroline Flint:
Information on the number of donors, and patients treated, is set out in the following
table, produced by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. The recruitment of sperm donors is carried out at local level by some individual clinics. We fund the National Gamete Donation Trust (NGDT) to help clinics in recruiting donors. The NGDT also promotes recruitment through increasing public awareness of the need for donors.
Number of sperm donors recruited | Number of patients undergoing in vitro fertilisation treatment using donor sperm | Number of patients undergoing donor insemination treatment | |
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) supported on the inclusion of synthetic fluorides in infant milk formulas. [112887]
Caroline Flint: The Department and the Food Standards Agency have not commissioned or supported research on this topic. The composition of infant formula is harmonised at European Union (EU)-level, and for fluoride reflects the recommendation of the EU Scientific Committee for Food that, on safety and nutritional grounds, no minimum level, but a maximum level of 100 milligrammes of fluoride per 100 kcal, should be set. This advice recognises the potential fluoride intakes of infants from supplements and/or water used to make up the formula.
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of eligible patients have received the influenza vaccine in each primary care trust. [113364]
Caroline Flint: Uptake of seasonal flu vaccine in eligible risk groups by primary care trust as at the end November 2006 is attached in the following table.
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