Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, if the Government do not propose to use the CRE, will the Minister tell the House how they will monitor and evaluate what happens during the modernisation programme? We are concerned about how the decision-makers will take into account what the professionals and patients say in relation to the delivery of the service.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I welcome this opportunity to take part in the debate on the gracious Speech. I express some sympathy with the Minister, who by now may feel that every issue of concern has already been raised. I am afraid that I am about to disabuse him of any such feeling by raising a specific issue that is of concern to the black British. I shall, however, be brief. I begin with racism in the...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: What response they will make to the Commonwealth Development Corporation's recently published annual report.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they are willing to subsidise the cost of drugs for poor South Africans.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether multinational pharmaceutical companies are attempting to obstruct the South African Government's efforts to obtain cheap drugs; and, if so, what is their response to such attempts.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Lester, for bringing this debate to the attention of the House. His tenacity is to be admired. He has consistently been at the forefront, over many years, in fighting discrimination. I listened attentively to his presentation and was almost persuaded by his well-founded arguments. However, I believe that Her Majesty's Government must give...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, in the past few weeks the media have exercised our minds on the issue of race. They have begged the question: where are we in the struggle to promote good community relations in our country? Those of us who have been engaged actively on the ground are often at a loss to answer the questions put to us. What have we achieved? Are race relations better today than they were in the 1950s...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister for meeting me and my noble friend Lord Morris of Manchester to discuss with Gordon Muir of the King's College and Lister Hospitals his findings in the Camberwell area; namely, that there is a significantly higher incidence of inoperable prostate cancer among men in the Afro-Caribbean community. As those findings have been borne out by United...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: What plans they have to increase the size of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether any changes have been made in relation to United Nations sanctions against Liberia.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether patients with the following inherited conditions: (a) cystic fibrosis; (b) haemophilia; (c) sickle cell; and (d) thalassaemia, are entitled to free drug prescriptions on the National Health Service.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked her Majesty's Government: What changes have been made to the level of support given by the United Kingdom to regional peacekeeping training in Southern Africa.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hooper, for initiating the debate. I know of her great interest in the region. She has often regaled me with stories of the Caribbean and Latin America. I apologise for not being present during some part of the debate. However, I look forward to reading in Hansard what has been said by noble Lords. I trust I will not repeat inadvertently...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they will now initiate a screening programme for prostate cancer for men aged 50 and above.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. Is he aware of research by King's College hospital and Lister hospital which suggests that black men are more prone to cancer and subject to the most virulent types of cancer? Is the department liaising with or supporting Gordon Muir? His research was drawn to my attention by my noble friend Lord Morris of Manchester.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they have any response to make in regard to the recent report and recommendations of the Review Body on Senior Salaries.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating my noble friend Lady Whitaker on raising this debate. To learn that Her Majesty's Government will work to manage globalisation in the interests of poor people, that they are setting themselves development targets, that the connected world is to work for everyone and that the international rules by which countries play will be fair, is music...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I, too, thank the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, for calling attention to the problems experienced by boys growing up without the care of a father, and for his call for resources. I shall speak specifically of Caribbean/British boys. This issue has exercised my mind considerably, having worked with unsupported mothers in the Deptford area over some years. I ask myself the question:...
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, can the Minister give an assurance, when such powers are in use, that due regard will be given to the cultural differences between the citizens of the United Kingdom? Already there is a fear that misdiagnosis takes place among British Caribbean people.
Baroness Howells of St Davids: My Lords, I, too, thank the Minister for the extremely important reform that is being put forward today. However, I wish to take up the matter of the term Xpolitically correct". That term is often used in the media--even in this House--to cover up the discussion of important issues. I know of no serious investigation that has been carried out into children who are brought up outside their...
