Cerebral palsy 'can be prevented'

Action to prevent cerebral palsy is long overdue, crossbench peer Lord Hameed told the House of Lords yesterday. Skip related content

During a short debate on the issue he told peers that despite popular belief, cerebral palsy is a preventable condition.

He referred them to a study by the Little Foundation.

Cerebral palsy costs the NHS "a staggering £4bn per year" and the financial and social costs are disproportionately high because it is a lifelong condition, he said.

Lord Hameed insisted that there is a "clear moral obligation" to address the prevalence of the condition.

Low birth weight is directly related to the condition, yet leaders in government and industry are "largely ignorant of the power of nutrition in accelerating and sustaining a cycle of good health".

He urged the government to consider incentives through the benefit system to improve women's health during pregnancy.

Lord Rea (Lab) emphasised that there is a social class gradient in the incidence of low birth weight, "as there is in almost all measures of ill health".

Lord Patel (CB) warned that any strategy to prevent cerebral palsy must address all causes because no single treatment is likely to succeed.

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston (Lab) called for more training and education of healthcare professionals in cerebral palsy and dystonia.

A key part of primary prevention is high-quality paediatric neurological services, Lord McColl of Dulwich, Opposition health spokesman, said.

He argued that these are currently underprovided.

And, there are currently major problems in providing psychiatric and behavioural diagnosis and care for children with early brain damage, he added.

Baroness Thornton (Lab, Government Whip) acknowledged that any strategy must have a wide scope, as cerebral palsy is a multifactorial condition.

Admitting that better research is required to understand the causes, she said that the government is funding the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit to produce research on maternal and neonatal care.

She added that a major new government-funded study called INFANT is about to begin, comparing the effect of an intelligent system to support decision-making in the management of labour.

Baroness Thornton highlighted that recent public health initiatives are aimed at improving maternal health.