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23 Jan 2008 : Column 2067W—continued

Departmental Equality

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to paragraph 29, page 35 of his Department’s resource accounts for 2006-07, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department’s Commission for Racial Equality Action Plan. [178279]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: As noted in the resource accounts, the action plan was incorporated into the Department’s single equality scheme (where it is included in chapter 14). The scheme was published in June 2007 and is available at:

www.dh.gov.uk/en/Policyandguidance/Equalityandhumanrights/SingleEqualityScheme/index.htm

A copy of the scheme has been placed in the Library. The Department is working to produce a revised single equality scheme by 29 February 2008.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many drug rehabilitation clinics there were in (a) Romford, (b) Essex and (c) Greater London in the most recent period for which figures are available. [179655]

Dawn Primarolo: The specific information requested is not collected centrally.

Food: Cloning Animals

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department’s policy is on the cloning of animals for food production; and if he will make a statement. [180671]

Dawn Primarolo: The sale of foods and food ingredients derived from cloned animals falls within the scope of the Novel Foods Regulation (EC) 258/97. The authorisation and labelling of novel foods is decided on a case-by-case basis and no applications have been received to date for the authorisation of products derived from cloned animals. Any application would be evaluated on the basis of the information provided. In the meantime, foods obtained from cloned animals cannot be sold for human consumption.

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the European Food Standards Agency’s draft scientific opinions
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relating to the (a) food safety, (b) animal health and welfare and (c) environmental impact of cloned animals, their offspring and the products obtained from these animals; and if he will make a statement. [180672]

Dawn Primarolo: The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued its draft opinion for consultation on 11 January 2008. The Food Standards Agency is examining the food safety aspects of the draft opinion and will provide its comments to EFSA before the end of the consultation period, which runs until 25 February 2008. Animal health and welfare and the environmental impact of farming practices are the responsibility of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Health Education: Religious Practice

Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what health advice his Department provides related to religious observance; and what (a) advice and (b) funding was received from relevant faith organisations in each case. [179174]

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department recognises that we all now live in a multicultural, multi-faith society. The Department is committed to recognising the needs of patients and staff of diverse religious groups, and to responding sensitively and appropriately to these needs.

In November 2003 the Department published “NHS Chaplaincy: Meeting the Religious and Spiritual needs of Patients and Staff”, which aims to ensure that national health service chaplaincy services reflect the religious diversity of the communities the NHS serves. This guidance was developed with advice from the Multi-Faith Group for Healthcare Chaplaincy, an independent group, which includes representatives from nine faith communities.

In September 2007 the Department funded an independent organisation called Communities in Action to produce a “Ramadan Health Guide” providing information and advice on maximising health gain during the Muslim fast, which was developed in consultation with a number of Muslim community organisations and clinicians.

In December 2007 the Department published a leaflet entitled “Going to Hajj or Umrah?” This leaflet explains and offers advice on some of the risks concerning meningitis for travellers to the Muslim pilgrimage.

Following the introduction of the Equality Act (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2006, the Department has commissioned independent consultants to develop a practical guide to these regulations, which prohibit discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in the provision of goods, facilities and services.

In each case, no funding was received from faith organisations in the development of this advice.

Hepatitis B

Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) males and (b) females in each age group had hepatitis B in (i) Southend, (ii) Essex and (iii) England and Wales in each of the last 10 years. [177138]

23 Jan 2008 : Column 2069W

Dawn Primarolo: Surveillance of hepatitis B is based upon reports of confirmed acute hepatitis B diagnoses from laboratories in England and Wales. The
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information available, which is from 1998 to 2003 and down to regional level, is shown in the following tables.

Laboratory confirmed cases of acute hepatitis B, England and Wales , 1998 to 2003
	1998				1999				2000
Age group	Male	Female	Not known	Total	Male	Female	Not known	Total	Male	Female	Not known	Total
<1	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
years 1-4	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
years 5-9	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	5
years 10-14	<5	<5	<5	6	<5	<5	<5	6	<5	<5	<5	<5
years 15-24	124	99	<5	225	107	92	6	205	98	80	6	184
years 25-34	212	79	5	296	164	72	<5	240	192	56	10	258
years 35-44	106	35	<5	145	109	27	<5	138	99	31	<5	131
years 45-54	66	20	<5	86	63	11	<5	74	61	14	<5	75
years 55-64	26	<5	<5	29	28	5	<5	34	25	8	<5	35
years >=65	16	9	<5	26	18	7	<5	28	14	6	<5	20
Years Not known	19	8	<5	28	17	<5	<5	21	9	4	<5	14
Total	574	256	13	843	512	223	17	752	503	204	20	727

	2001				2002				2003
Age group	Male	Female	Not known	Total	Male	Female	Not known	Total	Male	Female	Not known	Total
<1	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
years 1-4	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
years 5-9	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5
years 10-14	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	5	<5	<5	<5	<5
years 15-24	71	73	<5	147	112	92	<5	208	67	52	5	124
years 25-34	140	51	<5	195	208	77	<5	289	156	70	5	231
years 35-44	96	31	<5	130	158	46	<5	206	137	35	<5	172
years 45-54	52	7	<5	62	69	16	<5	86	67	19	<5	87
years 55-64	23	<5	<5	26	42	7	<5	51	37	9	<5	47
years >=65	15	5	<5	20	17	7	<5	24	20	10	<5	30
Years Not known	11	<5	<5	15	12	5	<5	21	<5	<5	<5	8
Total	411	173	15	599	622	256	17	895	494	200	15	709

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