§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is the total infant mortality rate for Scotland;
(2) what is the infant mortality rate attributed to respiratory disorders up to one year old in Scotland;
(3) what is the sudden infant death syndrome rate of death per 1,000 live births in Scotland;
(4) what the incidence of cot deaths each year since 1969 was in Scotland;
(5) what are the cot death rates for Scotland.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe terms sudden infant death syndrome and cot death are synonymous. I have therefore grouped the questions together and the answers are given in order.
Sudden infant death syndrome was first defined in 1969, but until 1979 there was no specific code under the World Health Organisation international classification of diseases to which to allocate such deaths. Before sudden infant death syndrome became an accepted term for use on death certificates, many cot deaths would have been assigned to "bronchopneumonia", "accidential suffocation in the cot" or "regurgitation and inhalation of milk". It is therefore not possible, with any certainty, to provide numbers or rates of sudden infant deaths in Scotland prior to 1979.
- 1. The infant mortality rate in Scotland in 1990 was 7.7 deaths per 1,000 live births, the lowest figure ever recorded.
- 2. The infant mortality rate attributed to respiratory disorders (ICD* Nos 450–519, 769 and 770) in Scotland in 1990 was 1.5 deaths per 1,000 live births.
- 3. The sudden infant death syndrome rate of death in Scotland in 1990 was 1.9 deaths per 1,000 live births.
- 4. The numbers of sudden infant deaths in Scotland since 1979 are as follows:
167W
Male Female Total >1979 66 51 117 1980 72 58 130 1981 95 59 154
Male Female Total 1982 89 55 144 1983 79 45 124 1984 76 51 127 1985 86 51 137 1986 95 52 147 1987 85 48 133 1988 75 57 132 1989 83 55 138 1990 83 45 128 5. The sudden infant death rates per 1,000 live births in Scotland since 1979 are as follows:
Male Female Total 1979 1.9 1.5 1.7 1980 2.0 1.7 1.9 1981 2.7 1.7 2.2 1982 2.6 1.7 2.2 1983 2.3 1.4 1.9 1984 2.3 1.6 2.0 1985 2.5 1.6 2.1 1986 2.8 1.6 2.2 1987 2.5 1.5 2.0 1988 2.2 1.8 2.0 1989 2.6 1.8 2.2 1890 2.4 1.4 1.9 * International Classification of Diseases (9th Revision)