§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much money was spent nationally on research in thalassaemia for each of the last 10 years.
Mr. JacksonThe Medical Research Council is the main Government agency for the promotion of medical and related biological research in this country. The council's total expenditure on research projects which could in whole or part be related to thalassaemia in the last 10 years is as follows:
£000's 1979–80 211 1980–81 489 1981–82 697 1982–83 611 1983–84 666 1984–85 681 1985–86 906 1986–87 1,042 1987–88 1,057 1988–89 1,154 Figures for 1989–90 should be available in July. Research on thalassaemia may have been undertaken by university departments and medical schools with support from the University Funding Council (UFC) block grants and by health authorities; but information on this is not collected centrally. Charities may also be spending money on research into thalassaemia.