§ Lord Gisboroughasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many deaths were caused by BSE in 1997–98; and how many deaths were caused by smoking-related illnesses during the same period. [HL156]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Baroness Hayman)Although there is convincing scientific evidence that the agent which causes new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) in humans is the same as that which causes Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle research so far has been unable to confirm how those who have died of nvCJD contracted the disease. The department publishes, on a monthly basis, figures for80WA the number of deaths of definite and probable cases of CJD of all types in the United Kingdom. The latest figures, published on 7 December, showed that in the UK in 1997 there were 10 confirmed cases of definite and probable nvCJD. So far in 1998 there have been a further 10 cases. The total since the disease was first identified is now 33.
Although the number of cases remains low, it is still too soon to make any reliable estimate of the future pattern of the disease.
The Health Education Authority estimate that in the UK in 1995, the latest date for which figures are available, at least 121,000 people died prematurely as a result of their own smoking.