To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to his Department of providing female soldiers with breast implants was in each of the last five years. [131913]

The numbers of breast implant operations undertaken on female Service personnel, in Ministry of Defence Hospital Units, in each of the last five calendar years is detailed in the table.

Number of operations undertaken
1999	7
2000	7
2001	6
2002	16
2003	4

The costs of providing each operation was not recorded separately. Such operations would be carried out for clinical reasons, such as breast reconstruction following accident or cancer treatment, and not for purely cosmetic reasons.The numbers and costs of female Service personnel receiving breast implants in the NHS but outside of MOD Hospital Unit arrangements are not held centrally.