FOI Ref: FOI/2021/2883
You asked
Please supply how many deaths were recorded as pneumonia in the UK for 1976 to 1986.
Also supply, for the same period, how many of those pneumonia recorded on death certificates were for those with bleeding disorders, i.e. haemophilia.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry regarding total pneumonia deaths registered in the UK from 1976 to 1986.
We are responsible for the production of Mortality data for England and Wales, this is driven by information collected from the death certificate at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
Coding for cause of death is now carried out according to the World Health Organization (WHO) International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and internationally agreed rules. However, from 1976 to 1978, ICD8 was used and from 1979 to1986 ICD-9 classification codes were used.
The ICD-8 and ICD-9 code for pneumonia are 480 -- 486:
480 Viral pneumonia
481 Pneumococcal pneumonia
482 Other bacterial pneumonia
483 Pneumonia due to other specified organism
484 Acute interstitial pneumonia
485 Bronchopneumonia, unspecified
486 Pneumonia, unspecified
Our 20th Century mortality files hold deaths by ICD-8 and ICD-9 from 1976 to 1986.
If the above does not meet your needs, we may be able to create a custom output. Information on deaths by specific ICD-8 and ICD-9 code along with other special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate). Such enquiries would fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime and should be made to Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.
Unfortunately, we do not hold information on pneumonia deaths for England and Wales from 1976 to 1986 with contributory mentions such as blood disorders. Contributory factors have only been recorded since 1993, therefore all deaths registered for 1976 to 1986 would be by underlying cause only.