§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What differences in provision for haemophilia patients now exist in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, taking into account differences in (a) entitlement according to age, (b) where the patient lives, and (c) any other relevant factors. [HL1329]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIn England and Northern Ireland, the policy is to provide recombinant clotting factors for new haemophilia patients and children under 16. Scotland and Wales are committed to providing recombinant products for all haemophilia patients. The Government are actively considering extending the provision of recombinant clotting factors to all haemophilia patients in England when supplies allow.
Because of the current world shortage of recombinant clotting factors, some patients across the United Kingdom have been switched from recombinant to plasma-derived clotting factors as a temporary measure. The Department of Health is working with the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors Organisation and with industry to manage available supplies.
102WA
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people with haemophilia now rely on the National Health Service for their medical treatment; and [HL1406]
How many haemophilia patients have now died after infection with hepatitis C by contaminated National Health Service blood products; and how many more are now (a) seriously and (b) terminally ill. [HL1408]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors Organisation states that around 6,000 patients with haemophilia A and B, not including patients with von Willebrand's disease and rare coagulation disorders, were registered with National Health Service haemophilia centres in 1999 (the latest year for which information is available). Only a proportion of these patients, mainly those with severe haemophilia, require treatment in any given year.
The latest information from the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors Organisation shows that 212 people with haemophilia have died from liver disease which may be related to hepatitis C infection. Information on the number of haemophilia patients seriously and terminally ill is not available.
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many haemophilia patients have now died after infection with HIV by contaminated National Health Service blood products; and how many more are now (a) seriously and (b) terminally ill. [HL1407]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThe number of haemophilia patients registered with the Macfarlane Trust who have died after infection with HIV is 821. Information on the number of haemophilia patients seriously and terminally ill is not available.
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What estimate they have made of the number of people with haemophilia whose National Health Service-prescribed treatment has included blood from donors who have since died of vCJD. [HL1409]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathI refer my noble friend to the reply I gave on 25 October atWA 141–42.
§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What study the Department of Health has made of the case of the schoolboy with haemophilia, a patient at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, who was given blood from a donor who had vCJD and has since died; why the child's entitlement to recombinant factor VIII was not honoured; and with whom the responsibility lies for the distress now inflicted on the family. [HL1410]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIn early 1997 this child received factor VIII from a batch that included plasma 103WA from a donor who developed variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in 2000. Following guidance from the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors Organisation, the child's consultant visited the parents in January 2001 to give them this information. Counselling and support were also provided. The child has received recombinant factor VIII since may 1998 as soon as possible after National Health Service trusts were instructed by the Government to provide these products to all new patients and children under 16.