§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Ross) on 30 January, Official Report, column 224, if he will indicate the relationship between the age profile of any given locality and the incidence of leukaemia therein.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeMy reply to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Ross) on 30 January set out the age and sex specific registration rates per 100,000 population in England and Wales 1980. These rates show marked variation over the complete age range with very high rates in the elderly, slightly higher rates in children than in young adults, and higher rates for males than females.
The national scheme of cancer registration aims to record each new cancer occurring in the population. If the data from the scheme were completely accurate, the registration statistics would exactly represent the incidence of cancer in the population.