§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated number of people suffering from arthritis; how many drugs are on the market which claim to relieve arthritis; and what is the annual cost to the National Health Service of supplying drugs for the relief of arthritis.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeInformation is not centrally available which would enable a reliable estimate to be made of the number of people suffering from arthritis. Our records do not show the number of products for the relief of arthritis currently marketed. However, 295 licences have been granted for products where indications are covered by the international classification of diseases code for arthritis, arthritic. The range of products includes analgesics, anti-inflammatories and those of herbal origin.
Information is not collected on the illnesses for which drugs are prescribed but in 1981, products included in the therapeutic group "products prescribed for rheumatism" cost the National Health Service £99 million for England and there were 16 million prescriptions for such drugs. This is the net ingredient cost of the drugs and does not include pharmacists' payments for dispensing.