asked the Secretary of State for Wales What is the percentage of people in each Welsh county, and for Wales as a whole, who are aged between 16 and 65 years and are permanently sick.
Information in the form requested is available only from the 1981 census and is as follows:
| Percentage of usually resident population aged 16–64 who were recorded as permanently sick at 1981 census Percentage | |
| Clwyd | 2·4 |
| Dyfed | 3·1 |
| Gwent | 3·3 |
| Gwynedd | 2·9 |
| Mid Glamorgan | 4·7 |
| Diagnosis | Numbers of deaths and discharges | |||||
| 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Alcoholic psychosis, alcoholic dependence syndrome, non-dependent abuse of alcohol: | ||||||
| Non-psychiatric hospitals | 590 | 639 | 714 | 714 | 940 | 1,117 |
| Psychiatric hospitals | 940 | 1,052 | 959 | 1,069 | 1,066 | 1,072 |
| All hospitals | 1,530 | 1,691 | 1,686 | 1,783 | 2,006 | 2,189 |
| Diseases of the liver associated with alcohol abuse: | ||||||
| Non-psychiatric hospitals | 304 | 332 | 407 | 365 | 459 | 462 |
asked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the average age of those people admitted to hospitals or clinics in Wales suffering from problems associated with alcohol, in each of the last five years.
The information is as follows:
| Average age on admission (years) of in-patients and day cases diagnosed as having alcoholic psychosis, alcoholic dependence syndrome and non-dependent abuse of alcohol | |||||
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Non-psychiatric hospitals* | 43 | 44 | 45 | 43 | 41 |
| Psychiatric hospitals† | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 |
| * Average age on admission of discharges—deaths. | |||||
| † Average age on admission. | |||||
| Average age on admission (years) of in-patients and day cases diagnosed as having diseases of the liver associated with alcohol abuse | |||||
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Non-psychiatric hospitals* | 55 | 54 | 54 | 54 | 54 |
| * Average age on admission of discharges—deaths. | |||||
asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many of those registered as having contracted dysentery in Wales in 1984 and 1985 were aged 16 years or under.
Percentage of usually resident population aged 16–64 who were recorded as permanently sick at 1981 census Percentage
| |
| Powys | 2·5 |
| South Glamorgan | 2·7 |
| West Glamorgan | 3·5 |
| Wales | 3·3 |
asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many places in hostels, hospitals and so on, have been provided in Wales for people with drink problems in each of the last six years.
The information is not available centrally in precisely the form requested. The following table gives the numbers of deaths and discharges from hospitals in Wales of inpatients and day cases diagnosed as having alcohol-related diseases.
In 1984 there were 69 notifications of dysentery in Wales of those persons aged 16 and under. In the first three quarters of 1985 the corresponding provisional figure is 384.
asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many people in Wales have (a) suffered from and (b) died as a result of hepatitis B in each of the last five years, county by county, at the latest date for which figures are available.
The numbers of registered deaths from hepatitis "B" are given in the following table:
| Registered deaths from Hepatitis B | |||||
| 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | |
| Clwyd | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dyfed | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gwent | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 3 |
| Gwynedd | — | — | — | — | — |
| Mid Glamorgan | — | — | — | — | — |
| Powys | — | — | — | 1 | — |
| South Glamorgan | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| West Glamorgan | 1 | — | — | 1 | — |
| Notifications of hepatitis "B" are not separately identified centrally; they are included in the category "Infective Jaundice" which also covers hepatitis "A", non-A, non-B and other viral hepatitis. | |||||
asked the Secretary of State for Wales how many people of school age in Mid Glamorgan, Gwent and South Glamorgan his Department estimates have misused amphetamines or controlled narcotics; and if he will make a statement.
There are no reliable estimates of the level of misuse of amphetamines and other controlled drugs among children of school age in south Wales. Assessments prepared in 1984 by district health authorities at the request of the Welsh Office suggest a varied pattern of misuse among misusers as a whole, with particular concentration in the major towns. However, information from these sources does not extend to school children.The Department has required health authorities to establish, in the form of district or county drug advisory committees, local arrangements for keeping the extent, character and intensity of local drug misuse under review and for co-ordinating and planning the development of an effective response. These committees are representative of the health and local authorities, the police and probation services and voluntary sector interests. A clearer picture of the nature and extent of drug misuse should emerge from the work of these committees, with which the Department is keeping in close touch.
asked the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from health officials in Wales regarding the possible escalation in the outbreak of hepatitis B; and if he will make a statement.
We have received no such representations, but the Department's officials have been made aware by the responsible authorities of cases of hepatitis "B" in South Wales. They have discussed with these authorities the action needed to control the outbreak and I am satisfied that all appropriate steps are being taken.