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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total number of death certificates issued in Wales in each of the past 10 years that mentioned (a) heroin, (b) methadone, (c) ecstasy, (d) paracetamol and (e) alcohol. [106189] Miss Melanie Johnson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply. Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 31 January 2000 As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking what was the total number of death certificates issued in Wales in each of the past 10 years that mentioned (a) heroin, (b) methadone, (c) ecstasy, (d) paracetamol and (e) alcohol. Information is available for usual residents of Wales, rather than for deaths occurring in Wales. The information requested in parts (a) to (d) of the question can only be supplied from 1993 onwards when text from the death certificate was first stored electronically. This enables named drugs to be identified. The ONS has constructed a database of deaths where the underlying cause of death was drug-related. Table [1] shows the numbers of deaths on this database where the substances named in (a) to (d) were mentioned on the death certificate. Some deaths may be counted more than once, for example if heroin and methadone are both recorded on the death certificate. It is not possible to identify all deaths with a mention of alcohol from the ONS drug-related database. The ONS does, however, have a standard list of underlying causes of death regarded as being attributable to alcohol and alcohol-related illness. Figures for these deaths are presented in Table [2]. Table [1]: Drug-related deaths{1} for usual residents of Wales, 1993-97 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Heroin and Heroin and MDMA/Ecstasy Paracetamol{3} Methadone Diamorphine Morphine{2} 1993 2 4 0 15 5 1994 2 7 2 19 9 1995 1 14 0 39 19 1996 5 13 2 21 19 1997 5 12 1 32 21 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Deaths with underlying cause codes 292, 304, 305.2-305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5 using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, where the named substance was mentioned on the death certificate. {2} Combined figures are presented for heroin and morphine as the latter may be detected at post-mortem following the breakdown of heroin in the body. {3} Includes deaths where paracetamol or any compounds containing paracetamol, such as co-proxamol, are mentioned on the death certificate. Table [2]: Alcohol-related deaths{1} for usual residents of Wales, 1989-98 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Number 1998 305 1997 295 1996 294 1995 289 1994 244 1993 240 1992 213 1991 233 1990 234 1989 201 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Underlying cause of death codes 303, 305.0, 291, 425.5, 571 and N980, using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

343 c445-6W;343 c445W; 106189

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Death Alcoholism Drugs Wales Ecstasy Heroin Methadone Paracetamol

Contains statistics

Yes