To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether he has completed his consideration of proposals for further studies of the children of individuals who have received radiation doses from occupational exposure;(2) whether the data held on the national registry of radiation workers at the National Radiological Protection Board have yet been linked with that on the national registry of childhood tumours.
The proposals for detailed epidemiological studies have now been refereed by independent experts and the successful applicants have been notified. Work is expected to start shortly on finalisation of contractual arrangements. The proposal to link data held on the national registry of radiation workers with that on the national registry of childhood tumours is currently being
| (a)Numbers and rates of conception by outcome to women aged 17 to 20, 1970–88 | ||||||||||
| England and wales | ||||||||||
| Number of conceptions (thousands) | Conceptions terminated by abortion | Conception rates per 1,000 women in age·group | Conceptions terminated by abortion | |||||||
| Total conceptions | Conceptions leading to maternities | Total conceptions | Conceptions leading to maternities | |||||||
| All maternities | Live births | still births | All maternities | Live births | Still births | |||||
| Age of woman at conception and year of conception | ||||||||||
| 17 | ||||||||||
| 1970 | 27,385 | 23,673 | 23,384 | 289 | 3,712 | 84·0 | 72·6 | 71·7 | 0·9 | 11·4 |
| 1971 | 27,587 | 22,577 | 22,319 | 258 | 5,010 | 83·6 | 68·5 | 67·7 | 0·8 | 15·2 |
| 1972 | 26,574 | 20,597 | 20,356 | 241 | 5,977 | 82·8 | 64·2 | 63·4 | 0·8 | 18·6 |
| 1973 | 25,896 | 19,759 | 19,508 | 251 | 6,137 | 78·4 | 59·8 | 59·0 | 0·8 | 18·6 |
| 1974 | 24,994 | 18,435 | 18,236 | 199 | 6,559 | 73·8 | 54·4 | 53·8 | 0·6 | 19·4 |
| 1975 | 23,349 | 16,747 | 16,569 | 178 | 6,602 | 66·9 | 48·0 | 47·4 | 0·5 | 18·9 |
| 1976 | 21,681 | 15,165 | 14,999 | 166 | 6,516 | 60·5 | 42·3 | 41·9 | 0·5 | 18·2 |
| 1977 | 21,757 | 15,154 | 14,987 | 167 | 6,603 | 59·1 | 41·2 | 40·7 | 0·5 | 17·9 |
| 1978 | 23,518 | 16,256 | 16,090 | 166 | 7,262 | 61·2 | 42·3 | 41·9 | 0·4 | 18·9 |
| 1979 | 24,868 | 16,694 | 16,550 | 144 | 8,174 | 63·3 | 42·5 | 42·1 | 0·4 | 20·8 |
| 1980 | 23,894 | 15,791 | 15,664 | 127 | 8,103 | 60·0 | 39·6 | 39·3 | 0·3 | 20·3 |
| 1981 | 23,179 | 14,990 | 14,882 | 108 | 8,189 | 56·8 | 36·7 | 36·5 | 0·3 | 20·1 |
| 1982 | 22,964 | 15,049 | 14,940 | 109 | 7,915 | 55·8 | 36·6 | 36·3 | 0·3 | 19·2 |
| 1983 | 22,575 | 14,452 | 14,342 | 110 | 8,123 | 56·0 | 35·9 | 35·6 | 0·3 | 20·2 |
| 1984 | 24,209 | 15,642 | 15,541 | 101 | 8,567 | 61·4 | 39·6 | 39·4 | 0·3 | 21·7 |
| 1985 | 24,619 | 15,922 | 15,820 | 102 | 8,697 | 64·2 | 41·5 | 41·3 | 0·3 | 22·7 |
| 19X6 | 24,776 | 16,101 | 15,999 | 102 | 8,675 | 64·8 | 42·1 | 41·8 | 0·3 | 22·7 |
| 1987 | 24,809 | 15,915 | 15,810 | 105 | 8,894 | 67·1 | 43·0 | 42·8 | 0·3 | 24·1 |
| 1988 | 25,423 | 15,872 | 15,793 | 79 | 9,551 | 67·6 | 42·2 | 42·0 | 0·2 | 25·4 |
| 18 | ||||||||||
| 1970 | 37,624 | 33,309 | 32,904 | 405 | 4,315 | 116·9 | 103·5 | 102·2 | 1·3 | 13·4 |
| 1971 | 36,656 | 31,165 | 30.811 | 354 | 5,491 | 111·7 | 95·0 | 93·9 | 1·1 | 16·7 |
| 1972 | 35,399 | 28,943 | 28,615 | 328 | 6,456 | 106·9 | 87·4 | 86·4 | 1·0 | 19·5 |
| 1973 | 32,885 | 26,444 | 26,165 | 279 | 6,441 | 102·0 | 82·0 | 81·2 | 0·9 | 20·0 |
| 1974 | 31,439 | 24,938 | 24.661 | 277 | 6,501 | 94·8 | 75·2 | 74·3 | 0·8 | 19·6 |
| 1975 | 29,952 | 23,555 | 23,338 | 217 | 6,397 | 88·0 | 69·2 | 68·5 | 0·6 | 18·8 |
| 1976 | 27,563 | 21,114 | 20,871 | 243 | 6,449 | 78·5 | 60·1 | 59·4 | 0·7 | 18·4 |
| 1977 | 28,270 | 21,522 | 21,310 | 212 | 6,748 | 78·6 | 59·8 | 59·2 | 0·6 | 18·8 |
| 1978 | 30,344 | 22,842 | 22,627 | 215 | 7,502 | 81·9 | 61·7 | 61£1 | 0·6 | 20·3 |
| 1979 | 32,752 | 24.206 | 24.014 | 192 | 8.546 | 84·8 | 62·7 | 62·2 | 0·5 | 22·1 |
| 1980 | 32,093 | 23,378 | 23,189 | 189 | 8,715 | 81·2 | 59·2 | 58·7 | 0·5 | 22·1 |
| 1981 | 30,564 | 21,894 | 21,764 | 130 | 8,670 | 76·2 | 54·6 | 54·3 | 0·3 | 21·6 |
| 1982 | 30,325 | 21,769 | 21,626 | 143 | 8,556 | 74·0 | 53·1 | 52·8 | 0·3 | 20·9 |
| 1983 | 29,860 | 21,196 | 21,070 | 126 | 8,664 | 72·2 | 51·2 | 50·9 | 0·3 | 20·9 |
| 1984 | 31,382 | 22,302 | 22,178 | 124 | 9,080 | 77·9 | 55·3 | 55·0 | 0·3 | 22·5 |
piloted by the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys. Final decisions will depend on the outcome of the pilot study.