§ Mr. Thurnhamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if any research into cot deaths is being undertaken by his Department; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe Department funded a major research project into post-neonatal mortality. The report of the study, which was co-ordinated by Professor Knowelden, was published in January 1985 and was followed by a conference to promote a full discussion of the issues raised.
No further research into the sudden infant death syndrome (cot death) is currently being funded by the Department. We are, however, pursuing a number of recommendations resulting from the Knowelden report. Details were outlined in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Mr. Galley) on 11 February. We have also expressed our concern to the Medical Research Council about the importance of further research into finding the cause of infant deaths for which full post mortems offer no explanation.