To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on regional variations in the incidence of (a) childhood allergies and (b) asthma; [112507](2) what assessment he has made of the number of children diagnosed with
(a) allergies and (b) asthma in
(i) the United Kingdom and (ii) other European Union member states. [112508]
That information is not available centrally as many child cases of asthma and allergies are diagnosed via out-patient and general practitioner practices. However the following table shows the number of finished consultant episodes for asthma and other allergies for 2001–02 in England for people up to 17 years.Additionally we do not hold centrally information relating to the numbers of children suffering asthma in the European Union.
| Primary diagnosis asthma and other allergies, age on admission 0–17 years—NHS hospitals, England by region of treatment, 2001–02 | |||
| Asthma | Other allergy | ||
| Y01 | Northern and Yorkshire regional | 3,603 | 397 |
| Y02 | Trent regional office | 2,253 | 374 |
| Y07 | West Midlands regional office | 2,686 | 924 |
| Y08 | North West regional office | 4,862 | 613 |
| Y09 | Eastern regional office | 2,497 | 130 |
| Y10 | London regional office | 3,735 | 612 |
| Y11 | South East regional office | 3,493 | 225 |
| Y12 | South West regional office | 2,271 | 281 |
| England | 25,400 | 3,556 | |