§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research and findings his Department has carried out into a national monitoring system to detect trends in morbidity and disability in seven-year-old children of different birth weights; and if he will make a statement. [8043]
§ Mr. BowisThe departmentally funded national perinatal epidemiology unit has undertaken a pilot study to explore how morbidity and disability in children of different birth weight might be monitored. The study has revealed some of the issues that must be addressed in devising a reliable, cost-effective, national system.