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20 Mar 2007 : Column 869W—continued
Pneumococcal Disease: Vaccination
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding she is providing for catch-up immunisation against paediatric pneumococcal disease in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08. [127829]
Caroline Flint: For the catch-up immunisation programme, general practitioners are being remunerated £7.51 as an item of service payment for each child vaccinated as defined in Statement of Financial Entitlements (Amendments) (No. 6) Direction 2006. Funding for the vaccination programme has been distributed to the national health service as part of the roll out of the 2006-07 central programme budgets.
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the success of the catch-up programme in immunising children against paediatric pneumococcal disease. [127830]
Caroline Flint: Following the introduction of pneumococcal vaccine into the routine childhood immunisation programme, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) is undertaking enhanced surveillance of pneumococcal disease in children. These data are available on the HPA website. The data show that cases of invasive pneumococcal disease, caused by serotypes against which the vaccine protects, are beginning to fall in younger children.
Primary Health Care: Eastern Region
Mrs. Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding was allocated to the East of England Deanery NHS in each year since 1997 to provide postgraduate training in the primary care sector; and if she will make a statement. [122822]
Ms Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally.
Skin Cancer
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the proportion of skin cancer cases attributable to the use of sun beds by people under the age of 18 years; and what steps she is taking to limit the use of sun beds by under-18s. [124261]
Caroline Flint: Information is not held centrally on the proportion of skin cancer cases attributable to the use of sunbeds by under 18-year-olds.
SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention and sun protection campaign run by Cancer Research UK on behalf of the United Kingdom Health Departments, supports health promotion events, and includes in their printed resources and on the SunSmart website information to promote awareness of the risks to health associated with the use of sunbeds, including use by minors.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines also recommend that sunbeds should not be used by young people and that the part of the guidelines providing advice for customers should be made available to the public at sunbed establishments. The Department and the HSE are in discussion about a review of the guidelines and whether they need to be strengthened.
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to skin cancer education awareness. [124262]
Caroline Flint: The Department and the other United Kingdom health departments commission Cancer Research UK to run SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention and sun protection campaign. The SunSmart campaign includes raising both public and professional awareness of skin cancer through providing information about it and guidance on preventative measures to reduce the risks associated with skin cancer. The campaign raises awareness through support for health promotion events, the provision of printed resources, media briefings and through the SunSmart website. The Department contribution to the funding for the financial year 2007-08 will be £104,000.
Dr. Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what research she has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on (i) the number and (ii) children's unsupervised use of coin-operated unstaffed sunbed salons; [126137]
(2) what assessment she has made of the therapeutic value of sunbed use. [126138]
Caroline Flint: Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, both natural and artificial, is the most important modifiable risk factor for skin cancer. The Government do not advise people to avoid the sun entirely but to enjoy it safely and prevent sunburn. Similarly they advise against the use of sunbeds for cosmetic purposes but they recognise the right of individuals to make informed choices.
The possible need for information about the number and distribution of coin-operated sunbeds, and the scale of any sunbed use by minors, is one factor that the Department has considered as part of its review of options for the regulation of such sunbeds.
Skin Cancer: Charities
Mr. Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what support her Department offers to skin cancer health campaigning initiatives by charities; and if she will make a statement. [126587]
Ms Rosie Winterton: SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention and sun protection campaign which is run by the charity Cancer Research UK, receives funding from the Department and the other United Kingdom Health Departments. The campaign provides resources and information for health promotion events, and the SunSmart website also provides a valuable information resource for those interested in promoting health and preventing skin cancer.
Smoking
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the percentage of adults aged 16 and over who smoked in each year since 1977, broken down by gender. [127833]
Caroline Flint: Information on smoking prevalence for those aged 16 and over is available from the general household survey. The following table shows the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults, by gender in England, from 1978 to 2005, the earliest and latest years for which these data are available.
Sonographers: Manpower
Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many sonographers were employed by the NHS in each of the last five years; how many sonographers were newly-registered in each year; how many sonographers are in training; and if she will make a statement on the future funding of training for sonographers. [126571]
Ms Rosie Winterton [holding answer 9 March 2007]: The Department does not collect central data on workforce numbers for sonographers employed by the national health service.
The Society and College of Radiographers do hold some data on sonographer workforce numbers, however these only represent those people who choose to register with the society.
Sonography is not commissioned nationally and it is for each NHS trust to make a case to its strategic health authority for funding to cover costs of training.
Special Advisers
Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the notices of external employment given by her special advisers in the past 12 months. [108616]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: The rules for civil servants, including special advisers, who wish to take up other employment in addition to their civil service duties are set out in section 4.3 of the Civil Service Management Code. Such information is not normally made public. There are no plans to create a public register of interests for special advisers.
Tuberculosis: Greater London
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2007, Official Report, column 1977W, on tuberculosis in Greater London, if she will break down the figures by nationality of the patient. [127254]
Caroline Flint: Information on the nationality of tuberculosis patients is not collected centrally, although information is collected on country of birth. Because of the small numbers of cases reported by most countries of birth for individual boroughs, and the consequent risk of deductive disclosure, the following table provides aggregated data for the London region.
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