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HEALTH
Multiple Sclerosis
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons are suffering from relapsing-remitting MS in each health authority area in England; and what number and percentage have been prescribed beta interferon for the last 12 months for which figures are available. [34460]
Mr. Boateng:
Information on the number of people suffering from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is not available. Information available is for in-patient treatment and is shown in the table and is based on finished consultant episodes, which represent the number of episodes of care under individual consultants. It is possible that a patient has more than one episode.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 702
Note:
Data in this table are grossed for both coverage and unknown/invalid clinical data.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 703
Sports Injuries
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of persons injured in the last 12 months as a result of pursuing a hazardous sport; and what was the cost to the NHS. [34458]
Ms Jowell:
Estimates from the leisure accident database, administered by the Department of Trade and Industry, suggest that there were 801,499 sporting injuries in 1996. The estimate was based on a sample of 18 hospitals in the United Kingdom. However, it is not possible to distinguish those resulting from "hazardous" sports from others. No estimate has been made of the cost of sporting accidents to the NHS. Accidents, generally, cost the National Health Service around £1.2 billion per annum.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 704
Mrs. Ballard:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to review the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983. [34625]
Mr. Boateng:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the right hon. Member for South-West Surrey (Mrs. Bottomley) on 4 March 1998, Official Report, column 676.
Mr. Cotter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when representatives from the Police, HM Customs and Excise and the National Weights and Measures Laboratory and Ministers from his Department last met to discuss the issue of tobacco imported from Belgium and illegally resold in the United Kingdom. [34702]
Ms Jowell:
There have been no such meetings.
Mr. Cotter:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last discussed with his EU counterparts the issue of health warnings on cigarettes sold in other EU member states being printed in English as well as the other major European languages; and what plans he has to raise it at the next such meeting. [34698]
Ms Jowell:
No discussion of this issue has taken place. There are no plans to raise it at the next meeting of European Union health ministers.
Mr. Efford:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of NHS prescriptions issued are exempt from any charge to the patient; [34750]
(3) what would have been the annual increase in prescription charges each year since 1979 if they had been increased in line with inflation; what the proposed increase for the current year on that basis would be; and what the proposed new charge would be. [34748]
Mr. Milburn:
The annual income from prescription charges, and the charge if it had been increased in line with inflation in each year from 1979 is in the table. In 1996-97, 86 per cent. of prescription items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors 1 in England were free of charge.
(2) what has been the income from prescription charges in each year since 1979; [34749]
(1) The analysis is based on a 1 in 20 sample of all prescriptions submitted to the Prescription Pricing Authority by community pharmacists and appliance contractors. Items dispensed by dispensing doctors and personal administration prescriptions are not included in the sample. (Dispensing doctor prescriptions are not analysed into exempt, non exempt, or other categories; personally administered items are free of charge). Items dispensed to holders of prepayment certificates are not counted as free in this calculation.
(2) GDP deflators have been used.
19 Mar 1998 : Column: 705
Medical Specialists
Ms Drown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will amend the European Specialist Medical Qualifications Order 1995, to permit experienced and qualified doctors with Irish specialist qualifications to gain access to the Specialist Register. [34942]
Mr. Milburn: Extending the transitional provisions in Article 12 of the European Specialist Medical Qualifications Order 1995 to doctors holding qualifications awarded in the Irish Republic would be difficult to justify as it would amount to discrimination against European Economic Area (EEA) nationals holding other EEA qualifications.
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