§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent studies have been conducted by her Department into the incidences of leukaemia and other blood cancers by medical districts in(a) Cumbria, (b) Lancashire and (c) the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) has so far produced three reports to the Government on the incidence of leukaemia and cancer in young people. Its first report (1986)1 dealt with new information about discharges from Sellafield, Cumbria, which had not been available to an ad hoc advisory group which reported in 19842. Its second report (1987)3 considered reports of an increased incidence of childhood leukaemia in the vicinity of the Dounreay nuclear establishment in Caithness, Scotland. COMAREs third report (1989)4 considered the incidence of childhood cancer in the vicinity of the atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston in West Berkshire, and the Royal Ordnance factory at Burghfield, North Hampshire. COMARE has made a number of recommendations for further reseach which has either been 44W completed, or is currently under way or planned. An important issue identified by COMARE in their third report was the need to establish the national pattern of leukaemia incidence to enable local findings to be placed in context. This has been addressed by a study published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in 19915. The incidence of childhood cancer in Cumbria and around Sellafield has now been reviewed and the results are due to be published in the new year. This study was recommended by COMARE and will be considered alongside other evidence as part of the committees current review of childhood cancer around Sellafield.
References:
1 'The implications of the new data on the releases from Sellafield in the 1950s for the conclusions of the Report on the Investigation of the possible increased Incidence of Cancer in West Cumbria'—COMARE 1st Report. HMSO 1986.2 'Investigation of the possible increased incidence of cancer in West Cumbria—Report of the Independent Advisory Group. Chairman: Sir Douglas Black. HMSO 1984.3 'Investigation of the possible increased incidence of leukaemia in young people, near the Dounreay Nuclear Establishment, Caithness, Scotland— COMARE 2nd Report. HMSO 1988.4 'Report on the incidence of childhood cancer in the West Berkshire and North Hampshire area, in which are situated the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston, and the Royal Ordnance Factory, Burghfield—COMARE 3rd Report. HMSO 1989.5 'The Geographical epidemiology of childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphomas in Great Britain, 1966–83'—OPCS—Studies on Medical and Population Subjects No. 53. HMSO 1991.