§ Mr. Hancock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research he has (a) initiated and (b) evaluated on the possible leukaemia threat to the children of dockyard radiation workers. [140921]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson:The Department is funding an investigation of the geographical distribution of childhood cancer and leukaemia in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and how the pattern of cases around nuclear installations compares with the national pattern.
When the study is complete, the Department will ask the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) to advise on which, if any, nuclear installations in Great Britain have incidences of childhood cancer and leukaemia in their vicinity which are statistically outside the distribution seen nationally. COMARE is hoping to report on this aspect of the study to the Department in 2004. The study includes all cases of childhood cancer registered from the 1960s up to the late 1990s, and will include the children of dockyard radiation workers.