Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to encourage the consumption of vitamin D supplements during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
As we move into the winter months, it is more important than ever to following existing Government advice on vitamin D supplements.
At this time, the evidence is insufficient to prove that vitamin D helps people respond to COVID-19.
Public Health England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently re-reviewing the evidence, which will be published in mid-December.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote the taking of Vitamin D during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Existing Government advice is that everybody should take a daily 10 microgram vitamin D supplement between October and early March to maintain musculoskeletal health. This is particularly important for shielded groups, care home residents, prisoners and black, Asian and minority ethnic groups who may be more at risk of not getting enough vitamin D from sunlight.
Public Health England will shortly be updating relevant web pages and public-facing channels to remind people of the importance of taking vitamin D supplements over autumn and winter.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution of 21 September 2020, Official Report, column 633, if he will publish details of the trial he referred to on the impact of vitamin D on the incidence or severity of coronavirus.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published ‘Vitamin D for COVID-19: Evidence Review’ which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/evidence/evidence-review-pdf-8777674477
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition also published ‘Rapid review: Vitamin D and acute respiratory tract infections’ which is available at the following link:
https://app.box.com/s/g0ldpth1upfd7fw763ew3aqa3c0pyvky
These rapid evidence reviews, published in June 2020, concluded that there is currently no evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk and severity of COVID-19. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was referring to these publications when he responded to the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Rupa Huq MP).
Public Health England will keep this topic under review and will consider updating this assessment if emerging high-quality evidence suggests a change to existing conclusions, and advise the Government accordingly.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral contribution of 21 September 2020, Official Report, column 633, on Covid-19 Update, if he will publish the citation for the trial to which he referred that showed that Vitamin D has no impact on coronavirus.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published ‘Vitamin D for COVID-19: Evidence Review’ which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/evidence/evidence-review-pdf-8777674477
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition also published ‘Rapid review: Vitamin D and acute respiratory tract infections’ which is available at the following link:
https://app.box.com/s/g0ldpth1upfd7fw763ew3aqa3c0pyvky
These rapid evidence reviews, published in June 2020, concluded that there is currently no evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk and severity of COVID-19. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was referring to these publications when he responded to the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Rupa Huq MP).
Public Health England will keep this topic under review and will consider updating this assessment if emerging high-quality evidence suggests a change to existing conclusions, and advise the Government accordingly.
Asked by: David Davis (Conservative - Haltemprice and Howden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his response to the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton on 21 September 2020, Official Report, column 633, on Covid-19 Update, where he stated that Vitamin D is one of the many things that we have looked into, to see whether it reduces the incidence or impact of coronavirus, if he will publish the results of the trial to which he referred.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published ‘Vitamin D for COVID-19: Evidence Review’ which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/evidence/evidence-review-pdf-8777674477
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition also published ‘Rapid review: Vitamin D and acute respiratory tract infections’ which is available at the following link:
https://app.box.com/s/g0ldpth1upfd7fw763ew3aqa3c0pyvky
These rapid evidence reviews, published in June 2020, concluded that there is currently no evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk and severity of COVID-19. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was referring to these publications when he responded to the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Rupa Huq MP).
Public Health England will keep this topic under review and will consider updating this assessment if emerging high-quality evidence suggests a change to existing conclusions, and advise the Government accordingly.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the study published in the October 2020 edition of Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's October 2020, entitled Effect of calcifediol treatment and best available therapy versus best available therapy on intensive care unit admission and mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID-19: A pilot randomized clinical study, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the finding that vitamin D reduces the severity of covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has noted the findings from this study. Public Health England (PHE) is monitoring any new, high quality evidence on nutrition and COVID-19 and is seeking further advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) as appropriate. On 29 June 2020, the SACN and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a rapid evidence review which concluded that there is currently no evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk or severity of COVID-19.
In April 2020, PHE re-issued advice on vitamin D supplementation, advising that people who do not go outdoors often should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D to prevent deficiency.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the minutes of the deliberations of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the use of Vitamin D3 in the treatment of covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a rapid evidence summary on vitamin D for COVID-19 in June. This includes vitamin D3. There are no minutes as the process for developing rapid evidence summaries does not include a committee stage. Instead, NICE conducted a robust targeted review with a wide range of external expert advisers, as listed in the evidence review. This is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/evidence/evidence-review-pdf-8777674477
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral contribution of 21 September 2020 Official Report, column 633, if he will publish the evidential basis for his statement that vitamin D does not reduce the incidence or impact of covid-19; and what his Department's process is for keeping that finding under review.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England (PHE) supported the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to review emerging evidence on vitamin D for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. NICE’s review concluded that there is currently no robust evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk or severity of COVID-19. The review was published in June 2020 and can be accessed at the following link:
www.nice.org.uk/advice/es28/evidence/evidence-review-pdf-8777674477
PHE and NICE will keep this topic under review and consider updating the evidence summary if emerging high-quality evidence suggests a change to existing conclusions and advise the Government accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the efficacy of Vitamin D in promoting good health and resistance to COVID-19 and other infections.
Answered by Lord Bethell
In 2016, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published a robust assessment of the evidence on vitamin D and a wide range of health outcomes. Current United Kingdom vitamin D advice is focused on musculoskeletal health and based on evidence from this report.
In 2020, Public Health England (PHE) commissioned SACN to examine new evidence on vitamin D supplementation and the risk of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections (ARTIs). SACN’s rapid review concluded that evidence currently does not support vitamin D supplementation to prevent ARTIs in the general UK population.
In 2020, PHE supported the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to review emerging evidence on vitamin D for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. NICE’s review concluded that there is currently no robust evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk or severity of COVID-19.
Asked by: David Jones (Conservative - Clwyd West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the conclusions of the study by the Reina Sofia University Hospital, Córdoba, on the use of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the treatment of covid-19, published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology on 29 August 2020.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has noted the findings from this study. Public Health England (PHE) is monitoring any new, high quality evidence on nutrition and COVID-19 and is seeking further advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) as appropriate. On 29 June 2020, the SACN and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a rapid evidence review which concluded that there is currently no evidence to support taking vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk or severity of COVID-19.
In April 2020, PHE re-issued advice on vitamin D supplementation, advising that people who do not go outdoors often should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D to prevent deficiency. Existing evidence also highlights that people who have dark skin – for example, have an African, African-Caribbean or south Asian background – may also not get enough vitamin D from sunlight. This advice is not about reducing the risk of COVID-19 or mitigating its effects; vitamin D is needed to keep bones and muscles healthy.