Written question asked by Claire Curtis-Thomas (Labour) on Tuesday, 24 June 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 July 2003. It was answered by Stephen Ladyman (Labour) on Thursday, 3 July 2003 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what percentage of the population in (a) England, (b) South Sefton, (c) Southport and (d) Formby he estimates will suffer from arthritis in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006.

Answer: Mrs. Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population in (a) England, (b) South Sefton, (c) Southport and (d) Formby he estimates will suffer from arthritis in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006. [122237] Dr. Ladyman: Currently, it is estimated that about eight million people in the United Kingdom have arthritis. This is approximately 14 per cent. of the population. We would expect that these figures would remain fairly constant over time. Separate figures on the incidence of arthritis for South Sefton, Southport and Formby are not available centrally.

Secondary information