HC Deb 01 March 1989 vol 148 cc248-9W
Mr. John Garrett

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the incidence of(a) leukaemia, (b) cot deaths and (c) birth abnormalities in the Norwich area; and what are the national averages.

Mr. Freeman

[holding answer 20 February 1989]: Numbers and rates for (a) notifications of newly diagnosed cases of leukaemia, (b) deaths with leukaemia as underlying cause, (c) cot deaths1 and (d) birth abnormalities' for Norwich district health authority and England and Wales in 1987, except registrations of leukaemia for which 1984 is the latest available data.

Norwich DHA England and Wales
Numbers Rate Numbers Rate
Registrations of leukaemia 19841 46 210.11 4,307 28.65
Deaths from leukaemia 19871 45 29.60 3,650 27.26
Cot deaths4 6 31.11 1,528 32.23
Number of malformed babies5 74 313.71 13,581 319.83
1 Leukaemia assigned to an International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 9th revision code 204–208.
2 Rate per 100,000 population.
3 Rate per 1,000 total births.
4 Any mention of cot death or similar term on death certificate whether underlying cause or not. Under 1 year of age only.
5 Information is derived from a voluntary system of notifications at birth or up to 7 days afterwards. It is likely to be an incomplete measure of the total number of babies affected.