asked the Secretary of State for Social Services, whether she will ensure that the Handbook of Contraceptive Practice published by her Department is amended to note the risk of failure of oral contraception in patients suffering from diarrhoea or vomiting.

The Handbook of Contraceptive Practice was prepared for the Standing Medical Advisory Committee of the Central Health Services Council, the Secretary of State for Social Services and the Secretary of State for Wales by representatives of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of General Practitioners. I shall ask those representatives to bear this point in mind when they next come to revise the handbook.