HC Deb 12 December 2002 vol 396 cc497-8W
Mr. Burstow

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people in the UK with a neurological condition. [86882]

Jacqui Smith

We have made no estimate of the number of people in the United Kingdom with a neurological condition. The recent neurological alliance publication, Levelling Up, estimates that around 2,850,000 people have a neurological condition of one kind or another, with another 8,000,000 suffering from migraine.

In February 2001, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the national service framework (NSF) for long-term conditions, that will have a particular focus on the needs of people with neurological conditions and brain and spinal injury. Current plans are to publish the NSF in 2004 with a 10-year implementation period from 2005.

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