§ Mr. Hargreavesasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish in the Official Report the names of hospitals and research centres that are participating in the Medical Research Council's trials into the use of multi-vitamin treatment to reduce the rate of spina bifida babies born to high-risk mothers.
§ Sir Bernard Braineasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science why the Medical Research Council will not publish a comprehensive list of medical centres where trials are being carried out involving multi-vitamin pills being given to 2,000 expectant mothers who are considered to be as risk of having a spina bifida child.
§ Mr. Brooke[pursuant to his replies, 22 December 1983, c. 335 and 23 January 1984, c. 407]: I am now in 283W a position to provide the Medical Research Council's list of the centres participating in the trial to determine whether or not vitamin supplementation will reduce the incidence of neural tube defects. The centres that now have approval to proceed from their local ethical committees are as follows. I understand that the council considers that the need continues for a controlled trial to determine whether vitamins should be provided to mothers at risk, as there remains considerable uncertainty about whether vitamin supplementation is beneficial.
Centres United Kingdom Ashton-under-Lyne Tameside General Hospital Birmingham East Birmingham Hospital Bristol Bristol Maternity Hospital Southmead Hospital Cardiff Welsh National School of Medicine Dundee Ninewells Hospital Edinburgh Western General Hospital Duncan Guthrie Institute of Medical Glasgow Genetics Leicester Leicester General Hospital London Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital St. Bartholomew's Hospital University College Hospital Oxford John Radcliffe Maternity Hospital Portsmouth St. Mary's Hospital Sheffield Jessop Hospital for Women Southampton Princess Anne Hospital OVERSEAS Australia Adelaide Adelaide Children's Hospital Commonwealth of Health, University of Sydney Sydney Canada Ottawa Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Vancouver Grace Hospital Israel Tel-Aviv Sheba Medical Centre Hungary Budapest National Institute of Hygiene Debrecen Medical University Miskolc County Mospital Pecs County Hospital Szeqed Medical University Szombathely Markusovszky Hospital