§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what has been the total amount of money made available by his Department for research into (a) the cause and (b) the treatment of leukaemia in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. BrookeThe Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid through the Department, is the main Government agency for the promotion of medical research in the United Kingdom. In the last five years, the Council's expenditure on research directed at leukaemia is as follows:
£ million 1979–80 1.27 1980–81 1.73 1981–82 1.33 1982–83 1.40 1983–84 1.39 The council does not distinguish between work on causes and that which may have implications for treatment. Figures for the years before 1979–80 are not available. In 458W addition, research relevant to leukaemia is carried out in universities, funded by the block grant to the universities for teaching and research; the amount cannot be separately identified.
So far as the causes of leukaemia are concerned, I am informed that much research is taking place in relation to chemistries, radiations and viruses as causes of cancers. It is not possible to say how much of this work will prove to be relevant to leukaemia.