§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each local authority the total cost and the cost per head of treating asthma and other breathing-related illnesses for each year since 1992. [41946]
§ Mr. BoatengI refer the hon. Member to the reply to the right hon. Member for East Devon (Sir Peter Emery) on 22 July 1997,Official Report, column 569. This gave the available information on the costs of drugs dispensed for the treatment of asthma in England by family health services authority for the years 1993 to 1995 and by health authority for 1996 (the most recent year for which data are available). Some of the drugs in question may be used for the treatment of other conditions.
Information on the other costs to the National Health Service is not available centrally for individual conditions. However, a discussion document "Burdens of Disease" was issued in October 1996 which illustrated one approach to estimating the burdens of particular diseases on the NHS. This suggested that in 1992–93 the total of other, non-prescribing costs of the NHS services for treating asthma was of the order of £150 million.