Tag: Virendra Sharma

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department will take into account NHS England’s responsibility for commitments in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in its delivery of the strategy as a whole.

Jane Ellison

NHS England recently published its statement of intent showing how it will play its part in delivering the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in England. A more detailed plan will be built into NHS England’s five year strategy for specialised services.

The UK Rare Disease Forum, supported by the Department, will monitor activity against the 51 commitments outlined in the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. It will report progress to the health ministers of the four UK countries.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England plans to publish its report on specialised service derogations; and what additional steps it is taking to ensure compliance.

Jane Ellison

NHS England advises that the publication date has yet to be determined. However, the report will not be published until after the pre-election period for the forthcoming local authority and European Parliamentary elections is completed on 22 May 2014.

NHS England continues to work with their Area Teams on ensuring that all providers have robust plans for delivering services that meet the service specification.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department has held meetings with external organisations to discuss a strategy for combating liver disease since 11 May 2010; if he will place minutes of those meetings in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is responsible for the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes for people with liver disease. It is adopting a broad strategy to reduce premature mortality, including mortality from liver disease.

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not met any external organisations to discuss a strategy for combating liver disease since 11 May 2010. The Secretary of State and current Ministers at the Department have not met with representatives of people living with liver disease since September 2012.

NHS England and Public Health England are supporting clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to reduce premature mortality by providing commissioners with a suite of tools to help them maximise the best possible outcomes for their local communities such as Local Authority Profiles. These can help local authorities and clinical commissioning groups identify the significance of liver disease in their local area compared with the rest of the country and the actions they could prioritise to tackle it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many finished consultant episodes relating to liver disease there have been for patients aged (a) under and (b) over 18 years old in (i) England and (ii) each parliamentary constituency in England in each year since 1997-98.

Jane Ellison

The information is not collected centrally in the format requested. A count of finished consultant episodes with a primary diagnosis of liver disease for patients aged 0-17 and over 18 years old, by primary care trust of residence and England in total for the years 1997-98 to 2012-13 has been placed in the Library.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) infected and (b) diagnosed with viral hepatitis in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison

Hepatitis A, B, C and E are viruses that affect the liver. Where tests can differentiate acute from chronic infections data is presented as newly acquired infections and where not data is presented as newly diagnosed cases.

Cases of confirmed newly acquired hepatitis A virus infection are reported by laboratories to Public Health England.

Table 1: Hepatitis A laboratory reports (newly acquired infections) , England (2002-2012).

Year	Number of hepatitis A reports
2002	1,278
2003	999
2004	610
2005	469
2006	374
2007	344
2008	344
2009	341
2010	359
2011	252
2012	279

Data on acute hepatitis B infections are reported both from laboratories and from Health Protection Teams to Public Health England. Reporting in this way commenced in 2008.

Table 2: Reports of acute hepatitis B infections (newly acquired infections), England (2008-2012)

Year	Number of hepatitis B reports
2008	620
2009	597
2010	512
2011	589
2012	554

Laboratory reports of newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C are reported to Public Health England.

Table 3: Laboratory reports of hepatitis C (newly diagnosed cases) , England (2002-2012)

Year	Number of hepatitis C reports
2002	4,809
2003	5,570
2004	6,240
2005	6,295
2006	6,961
2007	7,808
2008	8,407
2009	8,662
2010	7,882
2011	9,917
2012	10,873

Notes:

1. At present serological tests are not able to differentiate between acute and chronic cases of hepatitis C infection. Therefore, laboratory reports of hepatitis C contain both recently acquired infections and past infections. For this reason the data represent newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C as opposed to newly acquired infections.

2. Hepatitis surveillance data for 2013 will be available in August 2014.

Laboratory reports of confirmed cases of hepatitis E are reported to Public Health England. Surveillance began in 2003.

Table 4: Laboratory reports of hepatitis E (newly acquired infections) , England (2003-2012)

Year	Number of hepatitis E reports
2003	122
2004	145
2005	294
2006	239
2007	161
2008	168
2009	166
2010	258
2011	435
2012	530

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with (a) liver disease and (b) viral hepatitis in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison

Data is not collected on new cases of liver disease. Liver disease covers many individual diseases caused by different factors, such as alcoholic liver disease, fatty liver disease as well as hepatitis related diseases. The identification of new cases will take place in different settings, from general practice to hospital outpatients.

The nearest proxy measure that we have is hospital admissions. However, hospital admissions only reflect the most serious cases when people are admitted to hospital. The number of hospital admissions for liver disease rose from 35,581 in 2001-02 to 57,682 in 2011-12, an increase of 62%.

Hepatitis A, B, C and E are viruses that affect the liver. Where tests can differentiate acute from chronic infections, data is presented as newly acquired infections and where not, data is presented as newly diagnosed cases. Hepatitis surveillance data for 2013 will be available in August 2014.

Cases of confirmed newly acquired hepatitis A virus infection are reported by laboratories to Public Health England.

Table 1: Hepatitis A laboratory reports (newly acquired infections), England (2002-2012).

Year	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Number of hepatitis A reports	1,278	999	610	469	374	344	344	341	359	252	279

Data on acute hepatitis B infections are reported both from laboratories and from Health Protection Teams to Public Health England. Reporting in this way commenced in 2008.

Table 2: Reports of acute hepatitis B infections (newly acquired infections), England (2008-2012)

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Number of hepatitis B reports	620	597	512	589	554

Laboratory reports of newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C are reported to Public Health England.

Table 3: Laboratory reports of hepatitis C (newly diagnosed cases), England (2002-2012)

Year	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Number of hepatitis C reports	4,809	5,570	6,240	6,295	6,961	7,808	8,407	8,862	7,882	9,917	10,873

Note:

At present serological tests are not able to differentiate between acute and chronic cases of hepatitis C infection. Therefore, laboratory reports of hepatitis C contain both recently acquired infections and past infections. For this reason the data represent newly diagnosed cases of hepatitis C as opposed to newly acquired infections.

Laboratory reports of confirmed cases of hepatitis E are reported to Public Health England. Surveillance began in 2003.

Table 4: Laboratory reports of hepatitis E (newly acquired infections), England (2003-2012)

Year	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Number of hepatitis E reports	122	145	294	239	161	168	166	258	435	530

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with representatives of people with liver disease since September 2012.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is responsible for the overall national approach to improving clinical outcomes for people with liver disease. It is adopting a broad strategy to reduce premature mortality, including mortality from liver disease.

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has not met any external organisations to discuss a strategy for combating liver disease since 11 May 2010. The Secretary of State and current Ministers at the Department have not met with representatives of people living with liver disease since September 2012.

NHS England and Public Health England are supporting clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to reduce premature mortality by providing commissioners with a suite of tools to help them maximise the best possible outcomes for their local communities such as Local Authority Profiles. These can help local authorities and clinical commissioning groups identify the significance of liver disease in their local area compared with the rest of the country and the actions they could prioritise to tackle it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of (a) the the government of Sri Lanka’s decision to proscribe a number of Tamil groups and individuals for alleged links to terrorist activities and (b) the effect this will have on the reconciliation process.

Mr Hugo Swire

I am concerned at reports that the Sri Lankan government has proscribed a number of individuals and Tamil organisations operating outside Sri Lanka. Whilst we respect the right of the Sri Lankan government to take appropriate action against individuals and groups where there is clear evidence of their involvement in terrorist activities, our High Commissioner to Sri Lanka has made clear to the Sri Lankan government that proscription should not be used to prevent or stifle the right to freedom of speech, particularly at a time when Sri Lanka’s human rights record is under international scrutiny. We believe that this development is not conducive to a successful reconciliation process and will continue to monitor developments closely.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been admitted to hospital with a (a) primary and (b) secondary diagnosis of viral hepatitis in each year since 1997-98.

Jane Ellison

The Health and Social Care Information Centre collects data on the number of hospital admission episodes for hepatitis C. This does not reflect the actual number of people admitted to hospital, because the same person may have had more than one admission episode within the same time period. The data held by the Health and Social Care Information Centre are as follows:

Year	Primary diagnosis	Secondary diagnosis
1997-98	4,045	4,738
1998-99	4,204	5,963
1999-2000	4,509	6,783
2000-01	4,683	7,405
2001-02	4,992	8,371
2002-03	5,883	9,746
2003-04	6,538	11,221
2004-05	6,180	12,551
2005-06	5,878	15,414
2006-07	6,273	16,661
2007-08	6,205	18,386
2008-09	6,222	20,799
2009-10	6,204	23,256
2010-11	5,549	26,703
2011-12	4,466	27,518
2012-13	4,766	30,351

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Sri Lanka; what recent representations he has made to the government of Sri Lanka about the arrest and detention of human rights defenders; and what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart about the use of that country’s Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Mr Hugo Swire

We continue to have serious concerns about respect for human rights in Sri Lanka, in particular continued intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders and activists. We have consistently made clear to the Sri Lankan government the importance of safeguarding freedom of expression and protecting human rights defenders, and continue to urge the Sri Lankan government to uphold their international human rights obligations and to ensure that civil society, human rights defenders and activists are allowed the space to act freely.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Human Rights Report for 2013 and the quarterly updates to the report, which are available online, includes Sri Lanka as a ‘Country of Concern’ for human rights and outlines our assessment more fully.

I made clear to the Sri Lankan government following the arrest of Ruki Fernando and Father Praveen – who have now been released – that it is important that human rights defenders are not subject to intimidation and have a right to freedom of expression. We are also aware of the arrests of Mrs Jeyakumari Balendran and others in Sri Lanka. Officials at our High Commission in Colombo have raised concerns with the Sri Lankan government, in particular on the lack of clarity around the evidence against the suspects and the charges brought.

We have previously raised concerns with the Sri Lankan government about the length of time individuals can be detained without charge under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. On 27 March, the UN Human Rights Council agreed a resolution which calls on the Sri Lankan government to make progress on human rights issues and to implement Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations, which includes the re-evaluation of detention policies.