Oral Answers to Questions — Ministry of Health – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 4 Mai 1964.
Miss Joan Quennell
, Petersfield
12:00,
4 Mai 1964
asked the Minister of Health how many cases of venereal disease were reported among school children in the last school year; and how many have been reported in the current school year.
Bernard Braine
, Essex South East
In England and Wales, in addition to 37 cases of congenital syphilis in persons under age 15, 1,319 cases of gonorrhoea and 39 cases of syphilis were reported in persons under age 18 in 1963, including 233 and 2, respectively, under age 16. I have no information on how many of these were still at school. Comparable national figures for earlier years are not available.
Miss Joan Quennell
, Petersfield
Is my hon. Friend aware that everybody interested in the welfare of young people can only be dismayed and concerned at the figures he has just given? To allay our concern, will he indicate what special measures are taken in such cases and what special liaison his Department has with my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science to deal with these particularly difficult matters?
Bernard Braine
, Essex South East
I entirely agree with what my hon. Friend said in the first part of her question, and I hope that her Question and my Answer will alert parents, teachers and young children to the appalling dangers. We should be very careful not to assume that the primary responsibility rests with the authorities. It does not. It rests with the parents. In so far as my Department has taken any action, perhaps the House would like to know that we issued a letter to local authorities only last week giving details of films, posters and leaflets available for use in education.
Mr Jon Rankin
, Glasgow Govan
Have we not for years been alerting parents to the dangers of venereal disease? Parents can see the warnings which are put up in every public lavatory throughout the country. Since the disease is still as dangerous, as the hon. Lady has pointed out, what steps other than those the hon. Gentleman has enunciated does he think ought to be taken?
Bernard Braine
, Essex South East
My right hon. Friend will consider any practical step possible. If the hon. Gentleman has any suggestions to make in addition to what we are doing already, we shall be most grateful to have them.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
