§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is currently being undertaken in the United Kingdom on the causes of, and cure for, multiple sclerosis; and by how much the Government have grant aided the research institutions in each year since 1987.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI have been asked to reply.
The main agency through which the Government support medical and related biological research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant in aid from my Department. The MRC is an independent body 539W deciding what research to support in the light of its own judgment of priorities and the quality of research applications it receives. The council is always willing to consider soundly based scientific proposals in competition with other applications for research funding.
The MRC supports a wide range of neurological research relevant to multiple sclerosis, in particular studies of the neuromuscular system. The 1992–93 funding in this area was a total of £13.3 million. The council's specific expenditure on multiple sclerosis in the period 1987–88 to 1992–93 was as follows:
Financial year £ 1987–88 297,000 1988–89 216,000 1989–90 181,000 1990–91 181,000 1991–92 80,000 1992–93 64,000 In addition, the MRC's new initiative on the neurosciences approach to human health will help to promote several approaches which may be relevant to the disease.
Besides MRC-funded work, there is also research being undertaken in various universities and NHS hospitals with public funding. However, information is not collected centrally on other Government-funded research on multiple sclerosis.