§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Mr. Streeter) of 14 June,Official Report, columns 429–30, what estimate has been made of the volume increase in prescribing resulting from the Department's new initiative to encourage health pro-motion by general practitioners to improve prevention of coronary heart disease and strokes and to set up asthma and diabetes management programmes; and what assessment has been made of the consequent savings in other health care costs, such as hospital treatment, as a result of these new programmes.
§ Mr. SackvilleAs part of our "Health of the Nation" initiative, some 90 per cent. of general practitioners are planning to run health promotion programmes with the aim of encouraging people to adopt healthier lifestyles and thus to reduce morbidity and mortality. It is not possible to quantify what effect this new initiative may have on prescribing or other health care costs separately from other health care improvements.