§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many cases of leukaemia have occurred in(a) adults and (b) children over the last 10 years in (i) Plymouth and (ii) Devon; and how these figures compare to the average in England and Wales. [17335]
§ Ruth Kelly[holding answer 23 November 2001]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 26 November 2001:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question on how many cases of Leukemia have occurred in (a) adults and (b) children over the last ten years in (i) Plymouth and (ii) Devon; and how these figures compare to the average in England and Wales. (17335)The numbers of registrations of newly diagnosed cases of leukaemia1 in children and adults in Plymouth Unitary Authority, the whole of Devon, and England and Wales in 1989–1998 (the most recent 10 years for which figures are available) are given in the table below. The corresponding age standardised rates are shown to enable comparisons to be made between areas.
Plymouth UA Devon England and Wales Children (0–14) years Number of cases 24 76 4,206 Rate2 5.0 4.2 4.2 Adults (15 years and over) Number of cases 314 1,358 49,642 Rate3 12.7 11.0 9.7 1 Leukaemia was identified in 1989–1994 by ICD9 codes 202.4 and 204–208; and in 1995 onwards by ICD10 codes C91-C95 2 Rates per 100,000 population. Directly age standardised using equal weights for the three age groups, 0–4, 5–9 and 10–14 3 Rate per 100,000 population. Directly age standardised using the European standard population truncated by removing the age group 0–14