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, whether the Tobacco Control Plan will take into account the conclusions of the consultation on the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015, published on 29 January 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Tobacco Control Plan will take into account the conclusions of the Post Implementation Review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015. We are also considering whether other regulatory measures are required to support the Smokefree 2030 target.
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, whether the Public Health England evidence review on e-cigarettes and other novel nicotine delivery systems will be published in time for its conclusions to be taken into account in the forthcoming Tobacco Control Plan.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England (PHE) published its seventh commissioned report on vaping in February 2021. The conclusions of this report and all previous reports will be considered as part of the scoping for the new Tobacco Control Plan. PHE’s eighth report is expected in March 2022.
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 steps his Department is planning to take to increase housing-based care options for older people as part of its forthcoming plans for social care reform.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Housing-based care options have a vital role in enabling older people to live independently. The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government provide capital funding subsidy to incentivise the supply of housing-with-care. We are committed to working closely together and across Government, to refine our understanding of the evidence around specialist housing, adult social care and health. We are also committed to further improve the diversity of housing options available to older people and continue to engage closely with a range of stakeholders on this issue.
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 make it his policy to name one of the 40 new hospitals to be constructed by 2030 in memory of the late Sir Tom Moore.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is considering ways to mark the memory of Captain Sir Tom Moore.
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, when he plans to provide a substantive answer to Question 92724, tabled on 21 September 2020 by the Rt hon. Member for Clwyd West.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 92724 on 22 October.
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, when he plans to provide a substantive response to Question 92724, tabled on 21 September 2020 by the hon. Member for Clwyd West.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave him to Question 92724 on 22 October.
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: 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 steps his Department is taking to ensure the availability of Priadel to NHS prescribers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Supplies of Priadel (lithium carbonate) are currently available.
The Department is aware Priadel tablets are being discontinued in April 2021, but alternative lithium products will remain available and we have worked with national mental health experts to issue guidance for healthcare professionals to support those affected.
We continue to work closely with the supplier and wholesalers to maintain the availability of Priadel and to ensure supply remains available for patients. We are aware that the supplier has quotas in place to reduce the risk of stockpiling but have confirmed that ordering mechanisms are in place to ensure all prescriptions for Priadel can access this treatment.
We have also added lithium carbonate to the parallel export restriction list (8 September 2020) to ensure supplies remain available for the United Kingdom.
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.
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, with reference to the decision by the US Food and Drug Administration to authorise the marketing of the IQOS electrically heated tobacco system as a modified risk tobacco product in the US, if he will (a) undertake a review of policy in relation to such products in the UK and (b) introduce a regulatory framework for those goods based on risk.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
On 7 July 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) classified IQOS as a ‘modified risk product’ and permitted the use of certain information in their advertising and marketing of the products. The FDA states that this does not mean these products are safe or “FDA approved” and they will continue to monitor them.
The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) provided an independent assessment of the harms of heated tobacco products for the Government. COT reported in December 2017 and found that the evidence suggests heated tobacco products pose a risk to users and though there is likely to be a reduction in risk for cigarette smokers who switch to these products, it is best to quit entirely.
In the United Kingdom heated tobacco products are regulated under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and classed as a novel tobacco product. The Government has a legal commitment to carry out a post-implementation review of TRPR by May 2021.