Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to establish a cross-departmental body to ensure improved co-ordination between all departmental providers of (1) sport, (2) health, and (3) wellbeing initiatives; and whether the Department for Health and Social Care intends to lead this initiative.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Government is currently refreshing the School Sport and Activity Action Plan and developing a new cross-government sport strategy. Government Departments are collaborating to embed evidence-based approaches to address inactivity and support health. This includes enabling national and local action to create increase physical activity, supporting health and addressing inequalities. Options for coordination across these strategies are currently being considered by the Departments involved.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Health Promotion Taskforce has had its first meeting; and if so, (1) who chaired it, (2) what items were on the agenda, and (3) what decisions were made.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Heath Promotion Taskforce is a Cabinet Committee. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees and how often they have met, is not shared publicly.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to complete the interview process for the post to lead the Office for Health Promotion.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We expect to complete recruitment for senior posts in the Office for Health Promotion by this autumn.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to ensure the cross-departmental coordination necessary for the functioning of the Office for Health Promotion; and whether this will involve regular ministerial meetings with all interested departments.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Alongside the creation of the Office for Health Promotion, we will establish a new ministerial board on prevention to co-ordinate cross-Government action to improve accountability on the wider determinants of health.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Office for Health Promotion will be their lead organisation for the promotion of physical activity.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Office for Health Promotion (OHP) will work with teams across the Department, the health system and wider partners to support action on physical activity. We will present more detail on our plans and ambitions for the OHP in due course.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they expect to appoint external advisors to the Office for Health Promotion.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We expect that the Office for Health Promotion (OHP) will draw on external expertise and advice from a range of sources. We will present more detail on our plans, ambitions and governance arrangements for the OHP in due course.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to offer COVID-19 vaccines for (1) professional sportspeople, and (2) members of the British Olympic and Paralympic Teams for the Games in Tokyo 2021.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use, including prioritisation at a population level. The JCVI has stated that phase one of a COVID-19 vaccine programme will have the prevention of mortality at the forefront of its objectives, as well as the support of the National Health Service and social care system.
For the first phase, the JVCI has advised that the vaccine should be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers and the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors. Included are those with underlying health conditions, which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish a White Paper setting out their response to the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983, chaired by Sir Simon Wessely.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
We recently announced that the Government will publish a White Paper by the end of the year.
The White Paper will set out the Government’s response, in full, to the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983 and will pave the way for new legislation.
We remain committed to reforming mental health law and will develop and bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 22 February (HL6127), what assessment they have made of how long men who carry the Zika virus remain infected, and whether there is a lasting risk that they can infect their partner.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Zika virus has been detected up to 62 days in the semen of men with symptomatic Zika infections, but this does not indicate whether the man can pass on the infection for this length of time.
Current Public Health England (PHE)/National Travel Health Network and Centre guidance advises that if a man has clinical illness compatible with Zika virus infection, precautions are taken to avoid transmission for six months after returning from a Zika transmission area. The PHE guidance is believed to be precautionary in light of the available evidence, and the recommendations are modified as evidence emerges. The current guidance can be found in the attached document Zika infection – Guidance related to Sexual Transmission.
The guidance is reviewed regularly by the pre-Scientific Advisory Group of Experts and is in line with guidance from World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.