§ Mr. HavardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each regional health authority area are being prescribed anti-TNF drugs for arthritis. [28502]
§ Jacqui SmithI apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002,Official Report, column 192W.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is conducting an appraisal of these treatments. Guidance to the national health service is expected in April 2002. We expect health authorities and primary care trusts to fund treatments from their unified allocations which are increasing on average next year by 7.2 per cent. in real terms. We do not hold information centrally about current usage of these drugs.
§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to provide funding for the increased supply of the drugs Infliximal and Etanercept; [28617]
425W(2) what percentage of sufferers of inflammatory arthritis in the UK have been prescribed the drugs Infliximal and Etanercept; and if he will give a breakdown by health authority area of the numbers of people who have been prescribed these drugs; [28619]
(3) what assessment has been made of the cost of prescribing the drugs Infliximal and Etanercept for treatment of inflammatory arthritis (a) in total and (b) per sufferer of this condition; and what evidence he has assessed on the long-term effectiveness of these drugs compared to other available forms of treatment. [28616]
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 18 January 2002]: I apologise to the hon. Member for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March, Official Report, column 192W.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is conducting an appraisal of these treatments. Guidance to the national health service is expected in April 2002. We expect health authorities and primary care trusts to fund treatments from their unified allocations which are increasing on average next year by 7.2 per cent. in real terms. We do not hold information centrally about current usage of these drugs.