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The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated February 2011:"As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many fatalities resulting from the misuse of solvents there ""were among people aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 34, (c) 35 to 49 and (d) 50 or more years old in each of the last five years. (38073)""The table attached provides the number of deaths where the underlying cause was drug poisoning and a volatile substance was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate for persons aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 34, (c) 35 to 49 and (d) 50 years or over, in England and Wales, from 2005 to 2009 (the latest year available).""ONS reports annually on deaths relating to drug poisoning in England and Wales. For each death, every substance noted on the death certificate or mentioned by the coroner is recorded. It is important to note that the figures presented are not the total number of deaths involving volatile substances as (i) the underlying cause must be within the ONS definition of drug poisoning and (ii) the volatile substance may not be recorded by the coroner on the death certificate.""As volatile substance abuse is known to be under-reported in official statistics based on death registration data, a project called the 'National Programme for Substance Abuse Deaths' (NPSAD) is funded by the Department of Health to measure trends in UK deaths associated with abuse of volatile substances, including solvents. The latest report from NPSAD on deaths associated with the abuse of volatile substances is available at:""www.vsareport.org"<Table width="100%" summary="" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="3" border="0"><thead><tr><th>Table 1. Number of deaths attributed to drug poisoning where a volatile substance was mentioned on the death certificate, by age group, England and Wales, 2005 to 2009¹,²,³</th></tr></thead><TR><TD>Deaths (persons)</TD></TR><TR><TD>Year</TD><TD>Under 18</TD><TD>18-34</TD><TD>35-49</TD><TD>50 and over</TD></TR><TR><TD>2005</TD><TD>9</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>4</TD></TR><TR><TD>2006</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>13</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>1</TD></TR><TR><TD>2007</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>11</TD><TD>7</TD><TD>2</TD></TR><TR><TD>2008</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>14</TD><TD>11</TD><TD>4</TD></TR><TR><TD>2009</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>9</TD><TD>10</TD></TR><tfoot><TR><td>¹ Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Deaths were included where the underlying cause was due to drug poisoning (shown in the following box) and where a volatile substance was mentioned on the death certificate.</td></TR><TR><td>² Figures for England and Wales include deaths of non-residents.</td></TR><TR><td>³ Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.</td></TR></tfoot></Table><Table width="100%" summary="" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="3" border="0"><TR><TD>ICD-10</TD><TD>Description</TD></TR><TR><TD>F11-F16, F18-F19</TD><TD>Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco)</TD></TR><TR><TD>X40-X44</TD><TD>Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances</TD></TR><TR><TD>X60-X64</TD><TD>Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances</TD></TR><TR><TD>X85</TD><TD>Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances</TD></TR><TR><TD>Y10-Y14</TD><TD>Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent</TD></TR></Table> |