§ Mr. Simon CoombsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proportion of its budget the Medical Research Council is devoting to research specifically on nutrition in the prevention of cancer and cardio-vascular disease.
Mr. JacksonI understand that in the financial year 1988–89, the Medical Research Council devoted about 0.9 per cent. of its overall budget (some £1,250,000) to research projects which were directly related to the study of nutrition as regards the aetiology and prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Many other projects supported by the council in the general area of nutrition research, on which the council's total expenditure is about £6 million annually, may in the longer term also prove to be relevant to the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease.