Media statement on House of Lords Allergy Report

24th September 2007

One in three people in the UK suffers from allergy; one in 50 children have nut allergy and admissions for potentially fatal anaphylaxis have risen seven-fold in the past ten years. It is no exaggeration to say that the incidence of allergy in the UK and in other developed countries has reached epidemic proportions and we urgently need more research to help us understand why.

Many health academics and clinicians believe that the vast increase in the number of cases of allergies such as asthma, rhinitis, eczema, drug and insect allergy and anaphylaxis reflects changes in the environment affecting us in the first five or so years of life, which are the most crucial period for the development of a robust immune system.

The House of Lords report’s recommendation to the Department of Health that they immediately withdraw advice to pregnant women and very young children to avoid peanuts shows how little we understand about what causes allergy and about how to minimise the risk of developing allergies – it seems that this earlier government advice might actually have been increasing the prevalence of nut allergy rather than helping the situation.

What we need is investment into research – particularly the effects of the environment on human health. We need to look at the impact of factors like air quality, pollution, chemicals in everyday products and pesticides in the food chain.

The Medical Research Council is due to undertake a review of clinical immunology shortly and we would urge them to make the study of environmental influences on allergy a high priority.

But we also need a joined-up approach bringing together key bodies such as the Food Standards Agency, the Health Protection Agency, the Commission on Environmental Pollution, the Environment Agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the farming community to look at the role that chemicals and pesticides play in the development of allergy.

The House of Lords report makes important recommendations about how we can improve treatment of the symptoms of allergy, but we must make understanding the causes of allergy an equal priority so that we can halt this epidemic which insidiously undermines the quality of life of millions of people.’

Kim Lavely

Chief Executive, The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health

Media contact

Natasha Finlayson, Communications Director, 020 3119 3118 natasha.finlayson@fih.org.uk

Note to editors

The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health encourages a culture of health and wellbeing with people and communities taking more responsibility for their own health. It believes that poor health does not exist in isolation, but is a direct consequence of our lifestyles, our cultures, our communities and how we interact with our environments. The Foundation is a charity founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 1993.