Sudden Death Syndrome

HC Deb 23 October 2001 vol 373 cc204-5W

Mr. Michael Foster

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the number of people who die each year from sudden death syndrome. [8862]

Ruth Kelly

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Michael Foster, dated 23 October 2001: As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking for the latest estimate of the number of people who die each year from sudden death syndrome (8862) In 2000, there were 34 instantaneous deaths with cause unknown, code 798.1 in the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for people aged 1 and over in England and Wales. For those aged under 1, an analysis of figures on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) for 1996–2000 was published in Health Statistics Quarterly 11 in August 2001. This analysis showed a provisional number of 243 deaths mentioning SIDS in 2000.