§ Mr. TylerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to investigate the significance of the reported clusters of children born with limb defects in coastal areas; and what advice is being issued to pregnant women in those areas.
§ Mr. SackvilleInvestigations of suspected or reported clusters of limb reduction defects have been initiated by district health authorities, in concert with the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. OPCS has, for the last 30 years, maintained a national monitoring system for collecting data on malformations among newborn babies. The significance of reported clusters is currently being assessed by comparative analyses with the national data. This work is expected to be completed shortly.
Discussions have also been held between the Department of Health, OPCS and the environmental epidemiology unit, London school of hygiene and tropical medicine, which incorporates the small area statistics unit, to identify and make the necessary provisions for any additional expertise that may be required.
Decisions about any further action necessary will be taken as quickly as possible, once the results of these investigations are known.