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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the use of antibiotics.

Jane Ellison

The UK Five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy is an ambitious programme to slow the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, which was published in 2013. The Strategy aims to prevent infection, protect the antibiotics that we have and promote the development of new drugs and alternative treatments. Each of these initiatives will contribute to reductions in the inappropriate use of antibiotics.

Implementation of our Strategy has met with success in primary care. Between April and December 2015, two million fewer prescriptions were dispensed compared to the same period in 2014, a reduction of 7.9%.

Globally, the United Kingdom has been at the forefront of successful negotiations of the antimicrobial resistance resolution at World Health Organization last year, with equivalent resolutions relating to food and agriculture and animal health. A key part of this work is aimed at reducing the risk of infections and improving antimicrobial stewardship.

We are also aiming to raise the profile of antimicrobial resistance yet higher through a successful high level meeting on antimicrobial resistance at the UN General Assembly in September this year.

Furthermore, we will use the recently published recommendations from Lord O’Neill’s Review on antimicrobial resistance to address the global challenge of unblocking the antibiotic pipeline and reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage in both the human and animal health sectors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on using DNA tests to help in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Jane Ellison

We are not aware of any discussions with medical organisations on using DNA tests to help in the diagnosis, and treatment, of breast cancer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on treatment of chronic bronchitis through the freezing of lungs.

Jane Ellison

There have been no such discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on the use of aspirin to prevent strokes.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) clinical guideline on stroke and transient ischaemic attack in over 16s: diagnosis and initial management (CG68), published in July 2008, recommends that all people presenting with acute stroke who have had a diagnosis of primary intracerebral haemorrhage excluded by brain imaging should be given aspirin 300 mg as soon as possible but certainly within 24 hours.

Thereafter, aspirin 300 mg should be continued until two weeks after the onset of stroke symptoms, at which time definitive long-term antithrombotic treatment should be initiated.

This guidance is due to be reviewed by NICE in July 2016 to see whether it needs to be updated.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on the potential link between high blood pressure in people of 30 to 40 years of age and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Jane Ellison

The Department has had no such discussions.

Dementia is a key priority for this Government. That is why on 6 March 2016, we published the Implementation Plan to support the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020. As part of the Plan, we will transform our approach to risk reduction, using the NHS Health Check programme to educate more people earlier about the risks of developing dementia – and the steps they could take to reduce those risks.

In March 2016, we announced that Public Health England, in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, will pilot approaches to the dementia awareness and risk reduction component of the NHS Health Check, specifically with the younger age group, aged 40-64.

The Government has also signed up to the Blackfriars’ Consensus, which, made clear that individuals can reduce their risk of dementia by living healthier lives by not smoking, drinking less, keeping physically active and better managing diabetes.