The following items are from Children & Parliament, summer and winter 1998. Children & Parliament is an abstracting service based onHansard and produced by the National Children’s Bureau. It covers all parliamentary business affecting children and is available on subscription via the internet (http://candp.ncb.org.uk). The Children & Parliament web site provides direct links to full textHansard, government department sites, the sites of the Office for National Statistics, Ofsted, and other relevant organisations. For further details contact Lisa Payne, Editor,Children & Parliament, National Children’s Bureau, 8 Wakley Street, London EC1V 7QE, UK (tel: +44 (0) 171 843 6000; fax: +44 (0) 278 9512). (The Hansardreference is given in parentheses.)

• Projects in Russia, Guyana, and Zimbabwe were given by the Secretary of State for International Development as examples of the Department’s support for education on human rights. The Department also supports education in international humanitarian law.

(1 Jun 98, Col 37.)

• Scandinavian research has suggested a population prevalence for Asperger syndrome of 36 per 10 000. The National Autistic Society’s estimate for the UK is 47 400 children with Asperger syndrome.

(1 Jun 98, Col 142.)

• Suicide is the second most frequent cause of death in men aged 16 to 25. The government aims to cut suicides by 17% by the year 2010. Strategies include restricting pack sizes for paracetamol and aspirin, support for projects such as the “Manchester campaign against living miserably” which aim to improve communication with at risk groups, and general practitioner education.

(2 Jun 98, Col 156–57.)

• The government is providing support for the first wave of Health Action Zones to the tune of £5.3 million in 1998–99 and £30 million from 1999–2000.

(2 Jun 98, Col 170.)

• The government is not planning to introduce a Children’s Rights Commissioner but will keep an …