§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department carried out into a national repository of multicase families with autoimmune rheumatic disease; what have been the findings; and if he will make a statement. [30001]
§ Mr. MaloneThe 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. In 1993–94 the MRC spent £2.9 million on research into the autoimmune system.
No research is being carried out by the Department of Health into autoimmune rheumatic disease.