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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Mrs. Calton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the change in the incidence of cancer in each region since the Chernobyl nuclear accident. [171927] Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply. Letter from Len Cook to Mrs. Patsy Calton, dated 12 May 2004: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what assessment has made of the incidence of cancer in each region since the Chernobyl nuclear accident. The Chernobyl nuclear accident occurred on 28th April 1986. The attached table gives the incidence of all cancers in England, from 1986 to 2000 (the most recent year for which data are available), by Government Office Region. Changes over time in the number of cancers registered are affected by many factors unrelated to the Chernobyl accident. These include historic change in smoking patterns, increased testing and screening for specific cancers (e.g. prostate, breast, cervix), and improved ascertainment by regional cancer registries. Directly age-standardised1 rates per 100,000 population of newly diagnosed cases of all cancers2 to residents3 of England, by Government Office Region, 1986-2000 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. England North East North West Yorkshire and the East Midlands Humber 1986 321 345 335 332 313 1987 328 333 333 334 324 1988 337 344 338 341 324 1989 337 351 344 338 322 1990 339 360 346 343 318 1991 340 353 354 344 333 1992 349 351 360 354 347 West Midlands East of England London South East South West 1986 326 321 308 312 305 1987 328 330 326 323 323 1988 347 338 339 329 334 1989 340 330 342 332 333 1990 345 327 340 336 337 1991 350 321 338 334 335 1992 356 326 347 346 355 England North East North West Yorkshire and the East Midlands Humber 1993 348 360 354 352 350 1994 352 359 374 355 346 1995 353 349 379 354 337 1996 351 373 379 354 354 1997 359 373 368 364 344 1998 357 394 374 360 345 1999 360 395 373 356 353 2000 361 393 375 373 355 West Midlands East of England London South East South West 1993 357 322 336 350 359 1994 346 328 342 352 358 1995 358 337 353 354 347 1996 356 331 341 342 339 1997 349 345 372 359 354 1998 364 335 361 347 351 1999 362 337 351 352 381 2000 361 338 355 355 365 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Using the European standard population 2 All cancers defined as all malignant cancers excluding non- melanoma skin cancer (International Classification of Diseases Ninth revision (ICD-9) codes 140-208, excluding 173; ICD-10 codes C00-C97, excluding C44) 3 Figures relate to cancers recorded by English cancer registries, where the patient was identified as usually resident in England Source: Office for National Statistics

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

421 c353-4W; 171927

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Accidents Cancer Diagnosis Nuclear reactors Chernobyl

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk