§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the United Kingdom(a) contracted meningitis and (b) died from meningitis in each of the last four years. [13040]
§ Mr. HoramThe number of laboratory-confirmed cases of meningococcal infection and the number of deaths are given in the table:
Laboratory confirmed cases of meningococcal infection and number of deaths, England and Wales Year Confirmed cases Deaths 1993 1,298 173 1994 1,129 149 1995 1,459 196 19961 1,495 230 1 1996 data are provisional. Questions relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland are matters for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland and my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
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§ Mr. NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on(a) treating and (b) preventing meningitis in each of the last four years; and how much was spent on publicly funded research in the same period. [13043]
§ Mr. HoramDetails of the cost of treating and preventing meningitis are not held centrally. The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council. The MRC receives its grant in aid from the Office of Science and Technology, which is part of the Department of Trade and Industry and spends approximately £1.5 million on meningitis research a year. The Department of Health commissioned a two-year clinical trial of candidate meningococcal vaccines in 1993 at a cost of £198,528. More research is needed before their suitability for widespread use can be considered. The Department of Health is currently working with the public health laboratory service, the national institute for biological standards and control and the centre for applied microbiology and research to take this work forward. The NHS is known to have spent £220,000 on a number of meningitis-related research projects since 1993.