HL Deb 29 March 1993 vol 544 cc35-6WA
Lord Ashley of Stoke

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will state for each of the last 15 years the number of babies born with (1) no eyes, (2) small eyes, (3) damaged optic nerves, (4) all recorded eye defects; what is the source of their information; whether they will estimate its comprehensiveness; and whether there is geographical clustering of congenital eye defects.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)

The data requested are contained in the following tables. They come from two sources: the Register of Congential Malformations maintained by the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), which records congential defects identified in the first seven days of life; and the registers of blind and partially sighted kept by social services departments.

The Malformations Register is thought to identify about 80 per cent. of congential malformations which, like anophthalmia, are present and identifiable at birth. For conditions such as microphthalmia, where the condition may take longer to discern and to diagnose, the register is possibly less comprehensive.

Data from the blind and partially sighted registers maintained by local authorities prior to April 1990 are thought to have recorded only about 30 per cent. of the actual number of cases. Revised arrangements introduced in April 1990, whereby all forms completed by ophthalmologists are now returned direct to OPCS, will it is hoped lead to improvements in data collection in the future.

The independent advice sought by the Government from Dr. Paul Elliott, the Director of the Environmental Epidemiology Unit of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, about the possible clustering of eye defects, is that there is almost no evidence on the available data of an increase in anophthalmia or clusters of anophthalmia.

Registrations of anophthalmia and microphthalmia in the first seven days of life (England and Wales)
Year Anophthalmos Microphthalmos
1976 22 17
1977 19 10
1978 22 11
1979 15 7
1980 26 8
1981 13 15
1982 15 12
1983 11 11
1984 20 14
1985 15 17
1986 9 9
1987 15 9
1988 13 5
1989 14 13
1990 7 8
1991 5 10

Source: OPCS Congentital Malformations Register, unpublished.

Statistical information on children age 0–15 obtained from the blind and partially sighted registers kept by social services departments. Data on the causes of visual impairment are not available on a yearly basis.

April 1976 to March 1985

  • *Optic nerve and visual pathways
  • Blind 367. Partial sight 234.
  • Total all conditions
  • 1,100 (blind); 1,383 (partial sight).

Source: Department of Health Statistical Bulletin 5/86

April 1987 to March 1990

  • *Optic nerve and visual pathways
  • Blind 101. Partial sight 43.
  • Total all conditions
  • 235 (blind); 265 (partial sight).

Source: Department of Health Statistical Bulletin 3(5)91

Data on registrations from April 1985 to March 1987 were not published

April 1990 to March 1991

  • *Optic nerve and visual pathways
  • 46 (blind); 28 (partial sight).
  • Total all conditions
  • 297 (blind); 372 (partial sight).

Source: OPCS unpublished data *This information is not collected to show where damage occurs