§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many male deaths from prostate cancer there were in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [80046]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Marsden, dated 7 November 2002:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the number of male deaths from prostate cancer since 1997. [80046]The most recent available mortality data are for the calendar year 2001. Figures for each year from 1997 to 2001 are given in the table below.
Number of deaths from prostate cancer1, England and Wales, 1997 to 20012 Calendar year Number of deaths 1997 8,523 1998 8,573 1999 8,533 2000 8,293 2001 8,912 Notes: 1 The cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 185 for the years 1997 to 2000, and for the year 2001, the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C61. 2 Figures are for deaths occurring in each calendar year. 3 The introduction of ICD-10 for coding cause of death in 2001 means that data for prostate cancer in this year are not comparable with data for earlier years. The introduction of ICD-10 has led to an apparent increase of 4 per cent. in the number of deaths coded to prostate cancer. The figures should therefore be interpreted with caution. The effect of the change in classification in 2001 is described in a report published in May 2002i