§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if there is a shortage of Factor VIII in the clinics where haemophiliacs are treated on demand; what stocks of good quality human Factor VIII are held in the United Kingdom; whether the commercial firms holding stocks are licensed; and if she will make a statement;
(2) if her Department will purchase the necessary quantities of Factor VIII to ensure that on demand patients are supplied with the amount needed for their optimum treatment; and if she will make a statement;
(3) if she will initiate an extension of the present "on demand" treatment by Factor VIII for haemophiliacs to include a home therapy system in which the treatment would be given by patients themselves, by relatives or by general practitioners; and if she will make a statement.
§ Dr. OwenThe supply of Factor VIII produced within the National Health Service is at present insufficient for the optimum treatment of haemophilic patients. I hope that it will be possible to increase our supplies, and meanwhile product licences were issued last year to two firms to market imported Factor VIII in the United Kingdom. Adequate stocks, I understand, are held of this commercial material. It is not the Department's normal practice to make central purchases of health service supplies, but central contracts were arranged to facilitate the purchase of this material by health authorities.
I recognise the desirability of enabling these patients to receive treatment at home but progress in this direction is likely to depend largely on the extent to which production of Factor VIII within the National Health Service can be increased.