Opposition MP Louise Jackson has questioned the Ministry of Health's ability to accurately reflect numbers in the wake of the revelation that no one on the Island died from swine flu.

And she alleged the Ministry also misrepresented FutureCare figures.

She spoke after Health Minister Walter Roban revealed on Tuesday that although a resident had died who was found to be infected with swine flu, no one on the Island had actually died as a result of the disease.

Previously it had been reported that Bermuda had one death based on a statement from the Ministry, this went uncorrected for two weeks.

Speaking of the two statements from the Ministry she said: "People have reason to be confused about the existence of swine flu in Bermuda."

She added: "For many months, Health ministers and officials used the figure of 3,100 to report the number of seniors being enrolled in FutureCare. This was done in statements to the House of Assembly and to the press.

"But in answers to my Parliamentary questions in November, the Government revealed the number of seniors enrolled in FutureCare was nearly 25 percent below the levels they had been reporting — 2,364 in April 2009 and 2,671 in October 2009.

"We take this opportunity to impress on the Minister and his officials the importance of reporting accurate figures, especially when they involve people's personal health and their fears of contagion, as is the case with the H1N1."

In a list provided by Mrs. Jackson she detailed nine instances where the Minister or Health officials "oversold the FutureCare numbers, presumably to win political points."

Of the nine she cited six referred to instances when the Ministry used the words "estimated", "allowed for", "roughly", "about" and "approximately" in relation to the 3,100 figure between March and November 2009.

She also listed two incidents where The Royal Gazette incorrectly stated 3,100 as the number enrolled and one incident where Colin Anderson of the Health Insurance Department said 3,100 were enrolled in the programme.

There were 50 articles written about FutureCare during that period.

But Health Permanent Secretary Warren Jones said: "What is interesting is that it has been the media that have spoken to the 3100 number as being enrolled and not the Ministry or Minister.

"The first time we were asked the number of persons in the plan was the Parliamentary Questions.

"We have stated 2671. Prior to that, we have spoken to the maximum number of persons the plan can accommodate. This is still the case.

"As you saw from the Parliamentary Questions, the plan has been growing each month. We have no control over when persons sign up, other than those automatically transferred.

"I think it is again a case that shows the Government was wise in its planning and calculated correctly the numbers that could be accommodated in phase I. We will see what that number grows to by fiscal year end."