Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the scale of the lifetime direct medical costs associated with births affected by neural tube defects compared to those unaffected.

No assessment has been made by the Department of the lifetime direct medical costs associated with births affected by neural tube defects.

As part of a National Institute of Health and Care Excellence study, Examining the Cost-Effectiveness of Moving the Healthy Start Vitamin Programme from a Targeted To a Universal Offering, A. Filby, M. Taylor, M. Jenks, and V. Birley estimated the additional lifetime healthcare cost of a person born with spina bifida to be £94,458. A copy of this report is attached.