§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what research is currently undertaken into the prevention of the common cold; which institutions are undertaking such research; how much money is being provided, publicly and privately, for such research and by whom; and if he will make a statement on policy and research in this area.
§ Mrs. Currie[holding answer 14 June 1988]The Department is not at present funding any research on the prevention of the common cold. The main agency through which the Government promote medical and related biological research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the Department of Education and Science. I understand that the Medical Research Council is at present funding research at the common cold unit, which is part of the clinical research centre's division of communicable diseases. In the financial year 1986–87 (the last for which figures are available) the council's expenditure on this research was £304,000.
The Medical Research Council has agreed that the common cold unit should close in 1990 following the retirement of the director. A committee has been set up to evaluate the future need of a facility for studying infections in human volunteers.
Details of research other than that funded directly by Government Departments or by research councils are not held centrally.