§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has, using the World Health Organisation's classification, of the number of people with(a) impairments, (b) disabilities and (c) handicaps; and what he estimates the numbers to be in each category by the year 2000.
§ Mr. DorrellThese concepts were used by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in its surveys of disability in Great Britain carried out between 1985 and 1988, the findings of which include the prevalence of disability among both adults and children. The results of the surveys were published in a series of six reports, which are available in the Library and are as listed. Assuming that the prevalence rate in each age group remains unchanged, we estimate that there will be a 9 per cent. increase in the total number of people with disabilities between 1985 and 2000, as a result of the changing age structure of the population. Actual figures will of course depend on a number of varying factors, including the advance of medical science.
The Prevalence of Disability Among AdultsThe Financial Circumstances of Disabled Adults Living in Private HouseholdsThe Prevalence of Disability Among ChildrenDisabled Adults: Services, Transport and EmploymentThe Financial Circumstances of Families with a Disabled Child Living in Private HouseholdsDisabled Children: Service, Transport and Education