§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information is available to his Department as to the proportion of children with Down's syndrome whose handicap is detected within the first seven days.
§ Mr. John PattenNational data are not available on the proportion of children with Down's syndrome whose condition is detected in the first seven days.
A recent study has suggested that as many as 94 per cent. of subsequently confirmed Down's syndrome cases were diagnosed soon after birth, but there is reason to suppose that this percentage may vary considerably from area to area.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will list in the Official Report (a) the number of amniocentesis tests carried out, (b) the number of such tests which revealed Down's syndrome, (c) the number of such cases which were terminated, and (d) the number of such cases which were carried to a completed pregnancy in each of the last three years.
§ Mr. John PattenInformation is not available centrally in the exact form requested. However, the tables54W show (a) the numbers of notifications of legal abortions where the medical condition was given as chromosomal abnormality, the majority of which are likely to he Down's syndrome and (b) the numbers of notifications of congenital malformations with Down's syndrome (live and still births) diagnosed within the first seven days after birth, for the latest available three years.
(a) Legal abortions to resident women: numbers with the principal medical condition specified as chromosomal abnormality, 1981–83 England and Wales 1981 1982 1983 ICD (9th Rev.) 6551 chromosomal abnormality in foetus 262 288 254
(b) Numbers of babies born with Down's syndrome by type of birth, 1982–84 England and Wales Year Total Liveborn Stillborn Not known/not stated 1982 527 513 12 2 1983 497 487 6 4 1984 505 488 14 3 Figures are derived from a voluntary system of notifying congenital malformations observed at birth or up to seven days after birth and are therefore an incomplete measure of the total number of affected infants.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) of 20 June, Official Report, column 196, about Down's syndrome and nuclear installations, whether he will give the age of children to whom the evidence relates; and whether the statistics referred to in the answer include cases of abortions following positive, amniocentesis tests.
§ Mr. John PattenThe information in my right hon. and learned Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) on 20 June at column196, related to the notifications of congenital malformations recognised within seven days of birth, and did not include cases of abortions following positive amniocentesis tests.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what account he took, when formulating his conclusions based on scrutiny of the statistics of the incidence of Down's syndrome in the Sellafield area that there was no evidence from this monitoring to relate the incidence to the presence of a nuclear installation. of the age of each of the parents in each case; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John PattenThe statistics examined were the notifications of congenital malformations with Down's syndrome to live and still births recognised within seven days of birth per thousand total (live and still) births for the local health authority in which Sellafield is located. These notifications include the ages of the mothers and these were taken into account.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, pursuant to the answer of 20 June to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown), he will list the studies his Department has examined in connection with his scrutiny of the possible correlation between the incidence of Down's syndrome and radioactivity from nuclear installations; and if he will make a statement.
55W
§ Mr. John PattenThe reports examined are
British Medical Journal, volume 287, 12 November 1983, Sheehan PME, Hillary IB. An unusual cluster of babies with Down's syndrome born to former pupils of an Irish boarding school. pages 1428–1429.Letters to British Medical Journal, volume 288, 14 January 1984, pages 146–147 Reynolds F, Wiggins RD, James WH, Sheehan PME, Hillary IB. An unusual cluster of babies with Down's syndrome. Brown A. Role of radiation in aetiology of Down's syndrome.Letter to British Medical Journal, volume 289, 11 August 1984, page 378 Sharp PM, McConnell DJ. An unusual cluster of babies with Down's syndrome—was it caused by the Windscale fire?Interpretation of the points raised in the reports leads to the conclusion that there is no evidence that radiation from the Windscale accident might have reached Ireland and the only factor implicating it in the causation of these genetic accidents is the coincidence of timing.
This Department and the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys routinely check the world literature, including that provided by the international clearing house for birth defects monitoring systems, and no substantive reports on the possible association between the incidence of Down's syndrome and radioactivity from nuclear installations are known.