§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the incidence of(a) ME, (b) MS and (c) HIV/AIDS, and what was the level of public expenditure, in each of the past five years in respect of each category. [116254]
§ Ms StuartInformation on the incidence and level of public expenditure on Chronic Fatigue syndrome (CFS)/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) is not available in the format requested. A number of definitions, disease descriptions or diagnostic criteria have been proposed to describe CFS/ME. However, there is no general agreement as to which should be used. This makes the results from studies on the prevalence of CFS/ME difficult to interpret and there is no agreement on the incidence of the illness.
Services for people with CFS/ME are funded from baseline expenditure.
The Department is currently supporting a number of projects at a total cost of £221,000 on CFS/ME research. In addition, we have also awarded the ME Association a
347Wtotal of £30,000 for 1998–99 and 1999–2000 and the Association of Youth with ME a total of £6,200 in 1998–99 under the Section 64 scheme of grants.
Information on the incidence and level of public expenditure on Multiple Sclerosis is not available in the format requested. MS is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system. It is estimated to affect between 80-90,000 people in the UK. However, the incidence (new diagnoses each year) is not known.
Services for people with MS are funded from baseline expenditure.
The Medical Research Council supported about a dozen projects on multiple sclerosis and associated demyelinating diseases in 1998–99 representing a spend of approximately £640,000 in that year.
The Department funds research to support policy and the delivery of effective practice in the National Health Service. The Department is currently spending approximately £150,000 per year on projects related to MS.
Funding for HIV/AIDS £ million Year Health authorities Local authorities Voluntary organisations Public education Research Total 1995–96 244.7 13.4 1.54 8.0 20.6 288.2 1996–97 237.7 13.7 1.63 5.2 19.5 277.7 1997–98 251.9 13.7 1.52 5.2 15.4 287.7 1998–99 281.4 13.7 1.58 4.8 16.2 317.6 1999–2000 286.4 15.0 1.60 4.5 16.0 323.5 Total 1,302.1 69.5 7.87 27.7 87.7 1,494.7