§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what sums she has expended in each of the last five years for research into(a) the causes and (b) the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. MawhinneyThe Department is funding a resarch project to investigate long-term progression in rheumatoid arthritis and to study aetiology and prognostic factors. Departmental funding for this ongoing project began in 1980 at the clinical operational research unit—CORU—at University college London. The project is being funded in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies. The central funding is approximately £15,000 per year although this forms only part of the £327,975 allocated to CORU in 1993–94 to undertake its remit of studying applications of operational research and information technology to clinical aspects of health care.
The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council—MRC—which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The MRC is an independent body deciding what research to support on its own expert judgment.