§ Miss Devlinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people in the United Kingdom suffering from asthmatic and bronchial conditions;
(2) whether the incidence of bronchial and asthmatic complaints varies depending on geographical location, or living conditions of sufferers; and what studies have been made by or under the auspices of his Department.
§ Mr. AlisonComprehensive figures for the incidence of bronchitis and asthma are not available. The mortality attributed (as the main cause) to these two diseases varies between the sexes, between the countries, between regions, between social classes and between town and country. In addition cigarette smoking has been shown to play a dominant part in the causation of chronic bronchitis. The mortality figures for 1969 are shown in the table below. For social classes the latest available figures are for 1959–63 and are shown as standardised ratios—100 being the average—for comparison between classes.
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MORTALITY FROM BRONCHITIS AND ASTHMA (ICD Nos. 8TH REVISION 490–493), 1969 NUMBERS OF DEATHS AND RATES PER MILLION POPULATION Numbers of deaths Rates per million (persons) Males Females England and Wales … … … … 33,957 1,060.3 349.9 Scotland … … … … 2,886 861.7 272.9 Northern Ireland … … … … 938 920.3 334.3 United Kingdom … … … … 37,781 1,038.1 342.2 Regions of England and Wales: North … … … … 2,639 1,214.6 380.0 Yorkshire and Humberside … … … … 3,772 1,200.4 386.5 North West … … … … 5,737 1,241.7 480.4 East Midlands … … … … 2,288 1,027.3 347.1 West Midlands … … … … 3,643 1,072.4 348.9 East Anglia … … … … 753 703.1 211.2 South East … … … … 10,810 955.7 317.0 South West … … … … 2,121 884.0 274.2 Wales I … … … … 1,697 1,431.7 338.5 Wales II … … … … 497 1,005.3 290.3 Population aggregates of England and Wales: Conurbations … … … … 13,112 1,197.3 418.8 Urban areas with more than 100,000 persons … 4,965 1,166.8 376.8 Urban areas with between 50,000 and 100,000 persons 3,278 1,052.4 340.8 Urban areas with under 50,000 persons … … 7,235 1,064.1 329.2 Rural districts … … … … 5,367 784.6 246.7
Social classes (England and Wales) aged 15–64* Standardized Mortality Ratios (100 as average) (ICD Nos. 7th Revision 500–502, 241) 1959–1963 Males Married Women I 33 54 II 52 58 III 97 101 IV 115 113 V 191 180 * Comparable figures are not readily available for Scotland or Northern Ireland.