§ Dr. Hampsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is yet in a position to say which regional health authorities have been engaged in the serum alpha-fetoprotein pilot programmes how much has been spent to date; and which authorities are allocating expenditure to maintain the availability of screening.
§ Mr. MoyleThe United Kingdom centres which participated in the collaborative study, which I assume the hon. 167W Member has in mind when referring to the pilot programmes, were in Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London—four centres—Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford and Windsor. I understand that most of these are still offering some form of screening service, as are centres in a number of other places, but so far no regional health authority as such has set up a screening programme. I regret that details of the location of centres offering screening, and the costs involved, are not at present available centrally. Consultations on the possibility of developing a national screening service are continuing.