§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to produce a new risk model to predict the number of potential exposures to v-CJD through poor decontamination practice before 2001; and if he will publicise the result using this model. [41806]
§ Yvette Cooper"Risk Assessment for transmission of vCJD via Surgical Instruments: A Modelling Approach and Numerical Scenarios", published by the Department on 16 March 2001, set out a methodology for assessing the risk of transmission of vCJD through the re-use of surgical instruments. A new risk assessment model is unnecessary since there is no significantly new scientific evidence to warrant revising the structure or assumptions of the current model.
Because of the multiple uncertainties surrounding this issue, it was not considered feasible to make a straightforward prediction of potential secondary infections from surgery. The Risk Assessment therefore did not predict the scale of any secondary epidemic of vCJD, instead, it developed different scenarios to address the various uncertainties-including the standard of decontamination-and gaps in our knowledge about vCJD.
The advice we had from Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee was that good decontamination is key in reducing the risk of person to person transmission of vCJD via surgical instruments. This was confirmed by the Risk Assessment. As a result of the work we did last year on improving decontamination, all NHS hospitals in England have access to decontamination services of an acceptable standard.