§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many children under the age of one year have died suddenly in each of the last 10 years; and what main reasons have been attributed to those deaths in the most recent of those years. [151094]
§ Ruth KellyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Mr. John Pullinger to Mr. Tim Loughton, dated 27 January 2004:
274WThe National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question on how many children under the age of one year have died suddenly in each of the last 10 years; and what main reasons have been attributed to those deaths in the most recent years. I am replying in his absence. (151094)Information collated at death registration does not generally indicate duration of the conditions leading to death. It is therefore not possible to identify all sudden deaths. However, for any infant death where the certifier mentioned "sudden infant death" or related term e.g. "cot death" or "sudden infant death syndrome", these figures are published as "sudden infant deaths". These figures are shown in the table below. Because of the method used to identify these deaths no further information is available on the reasons attributed to these deaths.
Sudden infant deaths—England and Wales 1993–2002 Numbers Rates1 1993 458 0.68 1994 454 0.68 1995 398 0.61 1996 424 0.65 1997 393 0.61 1998 289 0.45 1999 280 0.45 2000 246 0.41 2001 240 0.40 20022 187 0.31 1 Rate per 1,000 live births. 2 Provisional.