To ask the Secretary of State for Health what figures her Department holds for the estimated total numbers of prescriptions for asthma inhalers to (a) the whole population and (b) under 16-year-olds in the United Kingdom for each of the last 10 years; and if she will make a statement.
Information on the number of prescriptions for individual drug preparations by population groups in the United Kingdom is not available. The table sets out information on the number of prescriptions for the treatment of asthma by British National Formulary therapeutic classification for England only for 1982–91. For 1991 the table also shows the total prescriptions for asthma preparations for "Young People" based on exemption categories.
| Prescriptions for the treatment of asthma | ||
| Millions | ||
| Year | Total | Inhalations |
| 1982 | 15.3 | 6.5 |
| 1983 | 16.5 | 7.6 |
| 1984 | 17.7 | 8.5 |
| 1985 | 19.0 | 9.7 |
| 1986 | 20.0 | 10.6 |
| 1987 | 21.0 | 11.6 |
| 1988 | 22.6 | 12.6 |
Year
| Total
| Inhalations
|
| 1989 | 22.9 | 12.9 |
| 1990 | 24.1 | 13.7 |
| 1991 | 27.6 | 14.1 |
Young people
| ||
| 1991 | 13.8 | — |
Notes:
1. The data from 1982 to 1990 are estimates based on a sample of in 200 prescriptions dispensed by chemists and appliance contractors.
2. The data for 1991 are actual prescriptions and include those dispensed by chemist and appliance contractors, dispensing doctors, and personal administration prescriptions.
3. The data for the 1991 exemption category "Young People", i.e. children under age 16 and persons under age 19 in full-time education, are based on a sample of 1 in 20 exemption prescriptions dispensed by chemist and appliance contractors.
4. All figures for 1991 are based on the new PCA statistical returns and refer to the number of prescriptions items as opposed to fees used in previous years.