§ 87. Mr. Gammansasked the Minister of Health why it is necessary to make radio appeals for streptomycin for urgent cases of illness; and why, if the supplies of this drug are limited, they are not retained centrally in a number of hospitals all over the country so that doctors and institutions in need of the drug, would know where to apply without a radio appeal.
§ Mr. BevanI am not responsible for these appeals, which I think give a wrong impression to the public. My views have been made plain in a statement issued by my Department on 22nd January, 1947, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy. The limited supplies available are allotted to the treatment of patients in the clinical trials organised at selected hospitals by the Medical Research Council.
§ Mr. GammansHas the Minister no power to centralise these supplies, because it seems fantastic that a person's life should depend on whether or not a particular hospital has a radio set?
§ Mr. BevanI have already said that the advice I have received does not go to show that patients' lives are necessarily dependent on the supplies of this drug. I very much deprecate false hopes being raised among poor people and sick people by appeals of this sort.