§ Ms. HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research he has commissioned to investigate the causes of cerebral palsy.
§ Mr. FreemanThe main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research in the United Kingdom is the Medical Research Council. However, the following research, funded by Department of Health, includes investigation of causes into cerebral palsy together with other impairments.
The Oxford region child development study was funded by the Department between April 1983 and September 1989. It is a population-based register of pre-school impairment, including cerebral palsy. Data collected in this study established the prevalence rate of cerebral palsy and the register provides a framework for satellite studies which may look at causes of cerebral palsy. This register is currently funded by Oxford region health authority.561WThe Department has been funding the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Oxford, which coordinates clinical trials as part of its functions, since 1989. Children who as babies participated in some trials have been followed up, enabling study of the causes of cerebral palsy.A study at University College London (jointly funded by DH and MRC) is focusing on neurodevelopmental disorders in very small babies.A study in Liverpool is looking at the long-term outcome in small babies.
§ Ms. HarmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to monitor trends in cerebral palsy.
§ Mr. FreemanThe Department does not monitor trends in cerebral palsy on a national basis. However, we observe the results of local population based studies of such trends. Whether or not we need to monitor more closely is being considered in the larger context of the development of child health surveillance policies.