§ Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of health service funds are dedicated to cancer research; and what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on appeals by health research charities for funds from the public. [16940]
§ Mr. MaloneFigures are not collected centrally on the proportion of health service funds dedicated to cancer research.
The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The MRC is an independent body deciding what research to support on its own expert judgment.
In 1992–93, the MRC spent a total of £13.5 million on cancer research. These figures would rise by a considerable amount if a proportion of the MRC's spend on basic medical research, that may yield results relevant to cancer, were included.
The Department of Health spends some £7.7 million annually on research into cancer. This supports a programme of work on radiation protection, work at the National Radiation Protection Board, the small area health statistics unit and the cancer screening evaluation unit.
The Government support the work of the medical research charities and recognise that charities are 930W important funders of health and medical research. The Department is working with the Association of Medical Research Charities to promote a better understanding of the charities' strategies and priorities. In cancer research, the Department is funding research in collaboration with research charities, such as the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the Cancer Research Campaign.