§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many men and how many women she estimates are known to be suffering from diabetes in England, Scotland and Wales, respectively; and how many and what percentage of them are below the ages of 18, 15, 10, five and two years, respectively.
§ Dr. OwenInformation on the number of diabetic sufferers is unfortunately not available in the form requested. It has been estimated that in total about 350,000 persons are currently receiving treatment for diabetes in Great Britain. Newly diagnosed cases of diabetes in children under 16 years in 1974 numbered 861 in England, 89 in Scotland and 50 in Wales.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) of children below the age of 15 years known to be suffering from diabetes, how many and what percentage are known to use disposable needles prescribed by consultants; and what is the cost of the provision of disposable needles to such children;
(2) how many sufferers from diabetes are known to use disposable needles prescribed by consultants; and at what cost.
§ Dr. OwenI regret that no information is available centrally about the number of sufferers from diabetes using disposable844W needles prescribed by consultants, or the cost of this.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many sufferers from diabetes are known to use non-disposable needles prescribed by general practitioners; and at what cost.
§ Dr. OwenI regret that the information requested in the first part of the Question is not available. In 1974 the cost of non-disposable needles prescribed by general practitioners for diabetic patients in Great Britain was about £140,000.
§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether she will now take steps to permit general practitioners to prescribe disposable needles for use by children under the age of 15 years who suffer from diabetes.
§ Dr. OwenAt a time when resources are severely limited I do not think we would be justified in diverting the necessary expenditure from other NHS priorities. In cases where disposable needles are essential they can already be supplied through hospitals. It is not easy to devise satisfactory arrangements for restricting these otherwise costly supplies to children only.