Michael Connarty
Labour Member of UK Parliament - Linlithgow and East Falkirk Constituency
Michael Presses Minister on TB Drugs
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients (a) completed and (b) were unable to complete due to unavailability of drugs treatment for drug (i) susceptible and (ii) resistant tuberculosis in each of the last five years. [63295]
Anne Milton: The information is not available in the format requested. The latest available information on treatment completion for tuberculosis (TB), as collated by the Health Protection Agency, is shown in the following table.
| Number and proportion of TB cases completing treatment within 12 months, United Kingdom 2004-08 | |||
| Completed treatment | |||
| Cases reported | Number | Percentage | |
| Notes: 1. TB surveillance data are currently available up to 2009. Because treatment outcomes are obtained 12 months after start of treatment, these are only currently available up to 2008. 2. Reasons for non-completion of treatment may include, for example, continuing treatment, the death of the patient (which is not necessarily related to TB) and loss to follow-up (including patients who have moved abroad). | |||
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of NHS procurement, monitoring of supply and distribution capacity of drugs to treat tuberculosis; [63290]
(2) what recent assessment his Department has made of the risk of people developing drug resistant tuberculosis due to inconsistent supply of anti-tuberculosis drugs; and what steps his Department plans to take to ensure sufficient stocks of anti-tuberculosis drugs to meet demand. [63291]
Anne Milton: Medicine supply problems can occur for a number of reasons, such as manufacturing problems, difficulties in obtaining raw materials or regulatory problems. We understand that there have been problems with the supply of some medicines for tuberculosis (TB) and the Department is working with national health service colleagues to ensure that patients continue to get the medicines they need.
5 July 2011 : Column 1189W
The Health Protection Agency has advised that information about whether cases of drug resistant TB in this country may be associated with supply of TB drugs is not available.
Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the supply of anti-tuberculosis drugs. [65115]
Anne Milton: Although there have previously been occasional shortages of tuberculosis (TB) medicines, we are not aware of any current national shortages or of patients being adversely affected.
The Department is working closely with the pharmaceutical industry and the national health service to help ensure that patients continue to get the medicines they need.
We have set up a group including two of the authors of a recent survey of anti-TB medicine supply (on behalf of the UK Coalition to Stop TB) and other NHS experts to look at what can be done to ensure greater security of supply. We are also looking at improving communication to enable better planning for patients.
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