§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many children have been diagnosed with asthma in the past five years; and if he will make a statement. [130269]
§ Angela SmithThe majority of persons suffering from asthma have their condition diagnosed and treated by a general practitioner and this information is not available centrally. The Department does however fund a project managed by the Department of General Practice at Queens University of Belfast. This project collects data from a representative sample of general practitioners' practices across Northern Ireland.
Provisional figures from this data retrieval project suggest there are approximately 150 cases of asthma diagnosed per 1,000 persons in the population for the under 15 age group. This equates to approximately 1 in 7 children.
The National Asthma Campaign estimate that the prevalence of asthma is on the increase with approximately 1 in 7 children in the UK receiving treatment for it. This reflects a worldwide increase in asthma prevalence.
The primary cause of most cases of asthma is unknown; however, there is evidence that parental smoking exacerbates asthma in children.