§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department has taken to(a) scope, (b) commission and (c) disseminate research into the early detection of diabetes. [158029]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonThe National Screening Committee will, advise the Department by 2005 on the most effective policy for screening for Type 2 diabetes. It is generally accepted that screening of the whole population for Type 2 diabetes would not be cost-effective given the low prevalence of undiagnosed disease. However there is emerging evidence to suggest that it may be clinically and cost effective to offer screening to specific sub-groups of the population who are at high risk for diabetes. The Department and the National Screening Committee have commissioned research to define high-risk individuals and to evaluate pilot screening projects in primary care. The results of this research will be available to inform the advice of the National Screening Committee.