§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will monitor the health of the children of service men who were involved in the nuclear weapons testing at Christmas Island.
§ Mr. DorrellFollowing recommendations from the independent expert Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), the Government are currently considering a number of proposals for further studies of the children of individuals who have received radiation doses from occupational exposure. In particular, urgent consideration is being given to a proposal to link the data held on the national registry of radiation workers at the National Radiological Protection Board with those on the national registry of childhood tumours. A study involving test veterans' children would be considered only if it proves possible to proceed with the main worker-study proposal. In addition, any such research proposal would need to be considered first by the research co-ordinating committee established following a recent recommendation from COMARE.