Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he is taking steps to help ensure that information on the importance of (a) skin protection, (b) covering up and (c) using an appropriate factor sun cream is communicated to the public.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published guidance to the public on how to stay safe in hot weather including the importance of staying hydrated and protecting yourself from the sun. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beat-the-heat-hot-weather-advice/beat-the-heat-staying-safe-in-hot-weather.
UKHSA also produced a Hot Weather communications toolkit. This toolkit is shared with regional communications, cross-government partners, and local government to support consistent and clear messaging on hot weather.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure Royal Air Force selection boards do not discriminate against new recruits on the basis of skin colour.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Royal Air Force (RAF) Selection Boards recruit candidates in a non-biased and fair way, based on their ability to serve in the RAF. The RAF will continue striving to recruit the best people from the widest talent pool in the UK, assessing candidates on their individual merit, and ensuring they meet the required standards to join the RAF.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress she has made on developing a vaccine for cattle against Bovine Tuberculosis.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Developing a deployable cattle vaccine is one of the Government’s top priorities.
Defra aims to have a deployable cattle TB vaccine (CattleBCG) in the next few years. In 2021, world-leading cattle TB vaccination field trials began as a result of a
major breakthrough by government scientists on the development of a new DIVA
skin test to Detect Infected among Vaccinated Animals.
The UK is closer to being able to vaccinate cattle across England and Wales than we have ever been before but there is still a lot of work to do. Deployment relies on the success of the field trials, achieving Marketing Authorisations from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (for both CattleBCG and the new DIVA skin test), gaining international recognition for both products, an IT system to record and trace vaccinates and acceptance of vaccination from across the range of stakeholders.
Close partnership working with industry is also an essential component of the TB vaccine programme. A Government-industry working group has been established to co-design initial deployment policy proposals. These proposals will then be further developed with wider stakeholders before going to public consultation.
Vaccinating cattle against TB will be a valuable addition to the measures available to achieve bovine TB eradication but will not replace existing control measures. Maintaining biosecurity measures on farm, avoiding risky movements of cattle, and complying with TB testing protocols remain as important as ever in the fight against bovine TB.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of widening the criteria for mole removal in the National Health Service.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no assessment on the potential merits of widening the criteria for mole removal on the National Health Service. People are advised to visit their general practitioner (GP) with new or existing moles that have changed in shape or colour. If the GP suspects a mole is cancerous, a two week suspected cancer referral will be made. Depending on the outcome, the mole may be surgically removed. The NHS does not routinely provide mole removal for cosmetic reasons.
Asked by: John Baron (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the early diagnosis of cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The earlier we diagnose cancer, the better the outcomes for patients.
That’s why we’re speeding up diagnosis of the most common cancers e.g., skin cancer with tele-dermatology, bowel cancer through Faecal Immunochemical Testing, and prostate cancer through multiparametric MRI; increasing targeted screening for breast cancer and lung cancer; investing in 160 new community diagnostic centres; and tackling variation in cancer waiting times around the country.
Thanks to the hard work of so many people in cancer services around the country, the NHS hit the ‘faster diagnosis standard’ for the first time in February.
And – looking ahead - we’re investing in innovations like the Galleri blood test which may be able to detect cancer before people even have symptoms.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 improve the treatment of children who have recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the evaluation of two products for Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), birch bark extract for skin wounds associated with dystrophic and junctional EB and the gene therapy Beremagene geperpavec for skin wounds associated with dystrophic EB. If any of these treatments are given a positive recommendation by NICE, NHS England will ensure that service provision is in place to deliver these treatments in line with the terms of the NICE mandate.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet with representatives of the charity DEBRA UK to discuss its campaign for £10 million of NHS funding for drug repurposing trials to find treatments to alleviate the severe pain caused by the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We encourage DEBRA to propose candidate medicines for consideration for support from the Medicines Repurposing Programme. The programme provides a tailored package of support to priority repurposed medicines, potentially including support for research, licensing, and implementation. The programme is keen to work in partnership with external organisations including research charities and patient organisations. The eligibility criteria and proposal form are available on request from england.repurposing@nhs.net.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the adequacy of treatment options for the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB); and if he will make an assessment of whether drug repurposing trials might allow for more effective treatments whilst reducing the cost to the NHS of treating EB.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. We encourage the proposal of candidate medicines for consideration for support from the Medicines Repurposing Programme. The multi-agency Medicines Repurposing Programme identifies and progresses opportunities to use existing medicines in ways not included in the current licence. The work includes horizon scanning for trials in rare diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The eligibility criteria and proposal form are available on request from england.repurposing@nhs.net.
NHS England is aware from routine horizon scanning that a number of innovative treatments for EB are either in trials or being considered by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NHS England is working with NICE on the evaluation of two products for EB, birch bark extract for skin wounds and the gene therapy Beremagene geperpavec. If any of these treatments are given a positive recommendation by NICE, NHS England will ensure that service provision is in place to deliver these treatments in line with the terms of the NICE mandate.
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
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 potential merits of repurposing already licenced drugs for the treatment of the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. We encourage the proposal of candidate medicines for consideration for support from the Medicines Repurposing Programme. The multi-agency Medicines Repurposing Programme identifies and progresses opportunities to use existing medicines in ways not included in the current licence. The work includes horizon scanning for trials in rare diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The eligibility criteria and proposal form are available on request from england.repurposing@nhs.net.
NHS England is aware from routine horizon scanning that a number of innovative treatments for EB are either in trials or being considered by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). NHS England is working with NICE on the evaluation of two products for EB, birch bark extract for skin wounds and the gene therapy Beremagene geperpavec. If any of these treatments are given a positive recommendation by NICE, NHS England will ensure that service provision is in place to deliver these treatments in line with the terms of the NICE mandate.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) effectiveness of badger culls in tackling bovine TB and (b) reliability of the TB test used to identify cattle for slaughter; and what estimate her Department has made of the (i) annual cost of bovine TB in Shropshire and (ii) level of bovine TB in that county.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Evidence suggests that the badger cull has been effective in reducing bovine tuberculosis (TB) incidence in cull areas by 45% after three years of culling and 50% after four years. TB statistics for England show that disease incidence (i.e., the rate at which new cases or ‘breakdowns’ are detected in officially TB free herds) in the High Risk Area, where approximately 80% of all the TB-affected (breakdown) herds are located, has been decreasing since 2017. The percentage of cattle herds under TB restrictions in England (prevalence) is at its lowest level (4.5%) since 2010 (4.2%), having peaked at 6.4% in March 2018.
The cornerstone of TB control in cattle and other species is the accurate detection and removal of animals infected with the bovine TB bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) before they can spread the disease to other animals. The main screening test for TB in cattle in Great Britain is the single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) test. This is commonly known as the tuberculin skin test, which is used throughout the world to screen cattle, other animals and people for TB. It is the internationally accepted standard ante-mortem technique for detecting M. bovis infection in most species of mammals, including cattle.
All the official tests used in the ante- and post-mortem diagnosis of TB in cattle are thoroughly validated and evaluated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The SICCT test has a very high specificity, generating on average only one false positive result for every 5,000 - 6,000 uninfected cattle tested. However, it is only moderately (80%) sensitive, with about one in five bTB-infected cattle potentially missed by the test. This is why APHA uses the more sensitive (but less specific) interferon-gamma blood test to supplement the primary skin test in some herds affected by TB incidents. This helps accelerate the detection and removal of all the infected animals in such herds and reduce the risk of repeat (recurrent) breakdowns.
In September 2020 my Department increased the frequency of routine TB surveillance testing for most cattle herds in Shropshire from annually to every six months, with the first additional skin herd tests starting in March 2021.
As a result of the increased frequency of testing, 583,056 animal TB tests were completed in Shropshire in 2022. This resulted in a total of 1,981 cattle being compulsory slaughtered for TB control reasons in 2022 out of 583,056 animal TB tests completed in the county, at an estimated net compensation cost of £1.8M. This was lower than the peak of 2,357 cattle slaughtered in 2011, out of 425,787 TB tests completed in the county.
There were 232 new TB herd incidents detected in Shropshire in 2022, which is the lowest annual figure since 2007 and substantially fewer cases than the peak of 353 in 2013. 11.1% of herds in Shropshire were under TB restrictions at the end of the year.
For the complete and most recent set of official historical statistics for TB in cattle in Shropshire, published by my Department at the beginning of March, please see: