Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Public Health England's advice on year-round Vitamin D supplementation for care home residents and people from BAME communities is promoted widely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public Health England (PHE) re-issued existing Government advice on vitamin D supplementation in April 2020. This advice was published online on NHS.UK. PHE’s Change4Life and Start4Life online resources were also updated to reflect the vitamin D advice.

Industry representative groups were also advised of the reissuing of advice to allow them to prepare for potential uptake and maintain supplies in retail, chemists and health shops.

There is existing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on increasing supplement use to prevent vitamin D deficiency among specific population groups for commissioners, managers and other professionals with public health as part of their remit, working within the National Health Service, local authorities and the wider public, private, voluntary and community sectors. A copy of the NICE guidance, Vitamin D: supplement use in specific population groups, is attached.