§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, in view of the fact that backache problems caused the loss of nearly 25 million working days during the past year, he will now implement the recommendations of the Cochrane report regarding research into backache problems.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe working group on back pain, under the chairmanship of Professor Cochrane, urged in its report that research into back pain should command a high priority. Under the arrangements by which the Health Departments have reviewed their needs in the field of biomedical research with the Medical Research Council, back pain has been identified as such a priority. Two projects in this field are currently being financed by the council which, with the Department, will continue to give sympathetic consideration to soundly based research proposals.