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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Mr. Pike: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of how many deaths in (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley alcohol was the primary cause in each of the last five years. [210962] Mr. Timms: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply. Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Peter Pike, dated 26 January 2005: The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking for how many deaths in (a) Lancashire and (b) Burnley, alcohol was the primary cause, in each of the past five years. I am replying in his absence. (210962) The latest year for which figures are available is 2003. Figures in the attached table show the number of deaths where the underlying cause of death indicated a condition directly related to alcohol use in the years 1999 to 2003, among residents of the County of Lancashire and the Local Authority of Burnley. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) definition of alcohol- related deaths only includes those causes regarded as being most directly due to alcohol consumption. Apart from deaths due to accidental poisoning with alcohol, this definition excludes external causes of death, such as road traffic deaths and other accidents, and alcohol-related suicides and homicides. Estimates of the annual total number of deaths in which alcohol has played a role can therefore vary widely depending on the criteria used. The definition used by ONS allows for consistent comparisons over time for those deaths where a clear association with alcohol consumption can generally be assumed. Alcohol-related deaths1 in the County of Lancashire2 and Burnley local authority area3, 1999-20034 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Area County of Lancashire Burnley local authority 1999 167 17 2000 149 6 2001 182 10 2002 165 13 2003 177 19 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 For the years 1999-2000 the cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9). The codes used by ONS to define alcohol-related deaths are listed as follows: 291--Alcoholic psychoses 303--Alcohol dependence syndrome 305.0--Non-dependent abuse of alcohol 425.5--Alcoholic cardiomyopathy 571--Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis E860--Accidental poisoning by alcohol For the years 2001-03 the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) was used. To maintain comparability with earlier years the following codes were used: F10--Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol 142.6--Alcoholic cardiomyopathy K70--Alcoholic liver disease K73--Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K74--Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver X45--Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol The selection of codes to define alcohol-related deaths is described in: Baker A and Rooney C (2003). Recent trends in alcohol-related mortality, and the impact of ICD-10 on the monitoring of these deaths in England and Wales. Health Statistics Quarterly 17, pp 5-14. 2 Figures provided relate to the current county of Lancashire. This excludes the unitary authorities of Blackburn and Darwen, and Blackpool, created on 1 April 1998, which were part of the former county. 3 Usual residents of these areas. 4 Deaths occurring in each calendar year.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

210962; 430 c401-2W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Alcoholic drinks Death Misuse Burnley Lancashire

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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