The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people died from ankylosing spondylitis in each year since 1997 in (a) England and (b) each region. (198692)
The table attached provides the number of deaths where ankylosing spondylitis was the underlying cause of death in (a) England and (b) each government office region, from 1997 to 2006 (the latest year available).
Deaths (persons) Region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 North East 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 North West 1 1 2 4 2 0 1 1 2 1 Yorkshire and The Humber 1 3 2 1 2 2 0 1 3 2 East Midlands 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 West Midlands 2 1 3 0 1 2 1 2 0 2 East of England 2 2 2 1 1 1 4 6 3 3 London 0 5 1 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 South East 3 4 6 2 1 1 2 2 5 2 South West 3 4 4 1 2 1 3 0 1 4 England 16 23 20 12 10 8 13 15 15 18 1 Cause of death for ankylosing spondylitis was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 720.0 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code M45. The introduction of ICD-10 in 2001 means that the numbers of deaths from this cause before 2001 are not completely comparable with later years. 2 Based on boundaries as of 2008. 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.