§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many known cases of schizophrenia there are; if his Department is sponsoring research into the causes of this disease; and, if so, at what centres.
§ Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg[pursuant to his reply, 26 November 1981, Vol. 13, c. 456.]: The 1975 White Paper "Better Services for the Mentally Ill" suggested that the adult prevalence rate for schizophrenia for example the number of adults in contact with the specialist psychiatric services in any one year, is approximately 1 in 300, suggesting perhaps 120,000 people. The Department is funding a number of pieces of research which bear on the 161W people with schizophrenia, but fundamental research into causation is the responsibility of the Medical Research Council.