HL Deb 29 March 1977 vol 381 cc881-2WA
Lord AVEBURY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Establishment Subject Estimated expenditure in 1976/77 £'000
Clinical Research Centre (Department of Haematology) Transport of labelled Methyltetrahydrofolate into CSF and the effects of anti-convulsant drugs Vitamin B12 deficiency and pteroylglutamic acids 12
Quantitation of ineffective haemopoiesis in normal man and in various blood disorders 0.5
Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry Unit Alcoholism amongst employees in distilleries* 5
Evaluation of primary prevention (alcoholism) 4
Alcoholism viewed as a handicap 26
Medical Sociology Unit Concepts and definition of alcoholism and the "recruitment" and treatment of patients* 21

Research grants made by the Medical Research Council and the estimate expenditure in 1976/77 are as follows:

Establishment Project Estimated expenditure in 1976/77 £'000
Programme Grants
Addiction Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry A study of the epidemiology, natural history and treatment of drug and alcohol addiction** 159
Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford The pharmacology and toxicology of drugs of dependence (including alcohol)* 20
Liver Unit, Kings College Hospital Medical School Development of an artificial liver system to support patients with liver failure* 32
Project Grants
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Welsh National School of Medicine Pathogenesis of porphyria cutanea tarda symptomatica* 3
Department of Medicine, Royal Free Hospital, London Assessment of the value of serum bile acid determinations as tests of liver function* 10
*Research commissioned and paid for by the Department of Health and Social Security.
**Research supported jointly by the Department of Health and Social Security and the Medical Research Council.

The cost effectiveness of research can be judged only by its results when applied in medical practice.

The Department of Health and Social

What grants are being made by the Department of Health and Social Security and the Medical Research Council to work on diseases related to the consumption of alcohol, and how the cost-effectiveness of these grants is to be monitored.

The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION and SCIENCE (Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge)

Research projects being carried out in the Medical Research Council's own establishments are listed below, with the estimated expenditure in 1976/77:

Security have started, on a small scale as yet, a programme of evaluation of the effectiveness of detoxification centres. This too can be judged only by results.