§ Mr. GibbTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the prescribing of statins; and if he will make a statement. [15792]
§ Jacqui SmithThe National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease, revised in the Chief Medical Officer's Update in February 2001, sets out the policy for the prescribing of statins. The first priority is to ensure that people with established CHD are treated with statins to lower their cholesterol level either below 5.0 mmol/1 or to reduce total serum cholesterol by 20–25 per cent., whichever would result in the lowest level. (The equivalent figures for LDL cholesterol would be 3.0 mrno1/1 or by a 30 per cent. reduction, whichever 119W results in the lowest level.) The next step is the treatment of those without diagnosed CHD but whose risk of a cardiac event is greater than 30 per cent. over 10 years.
This is consistent with the guidance already issued to the national health service by the Standing Medical Advisory Committee and with the Joint British Society Guidelines published in the British Medical Journal.