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Written question asked by Joan Walley (Labour), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 17 January 1997. It was answered by Lord Horam (Conservative) on Friday, 17 January 1997 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question
What was the incidence of (a) tuberculosis and (b) rickets among those aged 0 to 19 years in each health authority area in each of the last five years. - Inc table of numbers of tuberculosis notifications, and fact that Rickets is not a notifiable disease and data are not collected centrally.
Answer

Ms Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the incidence of (a) tuberculosis and (b) rickets among those aged 0 to 19 years in each health authority area in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [11604] Mr. Horam: Information on the numbers of notifications of tuberculosis is not available in the form requested. Number of notifications to the Office for National Statistics under the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 1988 are published by local authority district or by age in the publications "MB2 Communicable Disease Statistics" annually and "MB2 Infectious Disease Statistics" quarterly. Copies are available in the Library. Total notifications for 0 to 19-year-olds for the last five years are: Numbers of tuberculosis notifications, excluding chemoprophylaxis, England and Wales, 0 to 19-year-olds _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Tuberculosis notifications 1992 730 1993 785 1994 615 1995 631 1996 (first 39 weeks) {1}429 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Provisional. The United Kingdom has an excellent record of tuberculosis control and we are determined that this should remain the case through the BCG immunisation programme, treatment of identified cases and screening of their close contacts, screening and treatment for immigrants and active surveillance of tuberculosis. Rickets is not a notifiable disease and data are not collected centrally. There are anecdotal reports of rickets in the medical literature, but these tend to be associated with extreme diets and insufficient exposure to sunlight. There is no reliable evidence that rickets is on the increase, and some evidence that rickets which used to be prevalent among Asian communities is now rare. The Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy has established an expert sub-group which is considering the nutritional aspects of bone health in the UK population.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
11604; 288 c411W
Session
1996-97
Subjects
Children Young people Tuberculosis Malnutrition Deficiency diseases
Contains statistics
Yes