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Food Supplements: Regulation
Earl Howe asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they next intend to meet with representatives of Consumers for Health Choice to discuss the regulation of food supplements. [HL3938]
Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health will meet with representatives of Consumers for Health Choice to discuss the regulation of food supplements as soon as a mutually convenient date can be arranged.
Low Carbohydrate Diets
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
What recent information about peer-reviewed scientific literature supporting the safety and efficacy of low carbohydrate diets has been received from Dr Sarah Brewer of Atkins Health and Medical Information Services by the Department of Health, the Food Standards Agency, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and the Health Development Agency, and what action they are taking as a result. [HL3942]
Lord Warner: The Department of Health, the Food Standards Agency and the Health Development Agency have all received scientific literature supporting the safety and efficacy of low carbohydrate
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diets from Dr Brewer. Officials have acknowledged receipt. As one of the 167 registered stakeholders, Atkins Nutritional Inc will be asked to officially submit this evidence as part of the joint National Institute for Clinical Excellence/Health Development Agency work on the development of guidance on the prevention and management of obesity in England and Wales.
Warrington Primary Care Trust:Dental Treatment
Lord Hoyle asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many pensioners in Warrington have had free dental treatment in the last two years; and what was the cost. [HL3944]
Lord Warner: The information requested is not collected in the format requested. Information for the total number of exemptions for dental charges for the residents within the Warrington Primary Care Trust are shown in the table.
Notes:
Patients will be counted more than once if we have received claims for more than one type of exemption.
No adjustment has been made for correction or deletion records.
Source:
Information Services Dental Practice Board.
Smoking-related Diseases
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, in cases where the cause of death is defined as lung cancer, any record is kept of the deceased's smoking habits or their exposure to passive smoking; and, if so, from whom that information is obtained. [HL3952]
Lord Warner: In individual cases of death from lung cancer records of smoking habits are not routinely kept. However, it is possible to estimate the number of lung cancer deaths due to smoking from known data on current and historical smoking rates. In 1995 an estimated 30,600 deaths from lung cancer were
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attributable to smoking, 84 per cent of all lung cancer deaths. The details of the methodology used to calculate this figure are set out in detail in the UK Smoking Epidemic: Deaths in 1995, which was published in 1998 by the Health Education Authority. A copy has been placed in the Library.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Warner: Calculation of the cost to the National Health Service of treating smoking-related diseases is set out in the journal of the British Thoracic Society, Thorax 1998 Smoking cessation Guidelines and their Cost effectiveness; Volume 53, Supplement 5, Part 1, S4-S10. A copy of Thorax has been placed in the Library.
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
How many children attend accident and emergency departments each year as a result of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke; how this figure is calculated; and what illnesses are involved. [HL3954]
Lord Warner: The Royal College of Physicians, using the most recent data for hospital admissions among children and prevalence of smoking among mothers, calculated that 5.7 per cent of total hospital admissions of children aged 0 to four (approximately 17,000 hospital admissions) were due to exposure to parental smoke. The details of the methodology used to calculate this figure are set out in detail in the publication Smoking and the young, Royal College of Physicians 1992. A copy has been placed in the Library.
According to the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health, secondhand smoke is causally linked to ischaemic heart disease, cot death, middle ear disease, serious respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia, asthma attacks and other breathing problems in children.
Alcohol Abuse: Costs
Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the costs to the National Health Service of the abuse of alcohol, including binge drinking. [HL3955]
Lord Warner: The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit's interim analytical report (published on 19 September 2003) indicated that the estimated cost of alcohol misuse to the National Health Service in England is up to £1.7 billion per year.
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Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the social costs of the abuse of alcohol in (a) England and Wales; (b) Scotland, and (c) Northern Ireland. [HL3956]
Lord Warner: The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit's interim analytical report published 19 September 2003 estimated that the cost of alcohol related harms in England was around £20 billion per year.
The detailed costs were set out in a paper on the Economic costs of alcohol misuse which is available from the web site at: www.number10.gov.uk/output4498.asp. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own strategies for tackling alcohol misuse.
In Northern Ireland, the report, Reducing Alcohol Related Harm in Northern Ireland estimated that, in 1997–1998, the last year for which costs are available, the social costs to the health and personal social services amounted to £26.8 million per year.
Actinic Keratosis
Lord Henley asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the number of patients presenting cases of actinic keratosis will be monitored over the duration of the SunSmart skin cancer prevention campaign; and [HL3966]
Whether the diagnosis and treatment of actinic keratosis will be monitored as an indicator of changing levels of sun awareness and skin health; and [HL3967]
Whether they will ensure that information on the incidence of actinic keratosis around England is collected centrally. [HL3968]
Lord Warner: Central monitoring and reporting is concentrated on the information needed to demonstrate progress against the targets set out in National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social care Standards and Planning Framework 2005/06–2007/08 published by the department on 21 July 2004; and for contractual purposes. Additional monitoring is kept to a minimum in favour of local performance management systems, exception reporting and independent inspections and does not include cases of actinic keratosis.
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