To ask the Secretary of State for Health, further to the statement by the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health in the Adjournment Debate on neuroblastoma on 30 March, Official Report, column 870, if he will now state the number of children diagnosed with the disease and the number of deaths from it in each of the years since 1980; if there is any progress he can report in regard to research on screening the disease; and if there is any further action he is taking arising from the debate.
I understand that the Medical Research Council is considering the need for research on screening for neuroblastoma. I wrote to the right hon. Member on 27 June offering to discuss this topic further with him and parents' representatives. The statistical information requested is as follows:
| Year | Neuroblastoma diagnosed at age 0–14 (England) | Neuroblastoma deaths at age 0–14 (England) |
| 1980 | 56 | 42 |
| 1981 | 69 | 37 |
| 1982 | 63 | 33 |
| 1983 | 60 | 26 |
| 1984 | 67 | 38 |
| 1985 | 163 | 30 |
| 1986 | 167 | 42 |
| 1987 | 179 | 34 |
| 1988 | 188 | 56 |
| 1989 | — | 45 |
| 1 Provisional. | ||