§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money his Department spent in each of the last three years on research into(a) breast (b) lung and (c) prostate cancer. [50206]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 14 July 1998]We are committed to encouraging research into the causes, prevention, early detection and treatment of all cancers.
415WDepartmental expenditure on research into (a) breast, (b) lung and (c) prostate cancer is:
£000 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 Breast cancer Department's policy research programme (PRP) 849 637 304 National Health Service research and development programme 123 316 528 Total 972 953 832 Lung cancer Department's PRP 144 231 0 NHS research and development 27 197 187 Total 171 428 187 Prostate cancer Department's PRP 20 21 17 NHS research and development 49 47 12 Total 69 68 29 In addition, the Medical Research Council (which is funded by grant-in-aid from the Department of Trade and Industry and is the main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research) invested in 1997–98: £3.3 million in breast cancer research, £691,000 in lung cancer research and £18,000 in prostate cancer research. Cancer charities and industry are also major investors, spending an estimated total of £122 million and £115 million per year respectively on cancer research.
NHS resources also support the NHS service costs of projects funded by non-commercial funders of research and development. This could include cancer research projects in the above areas.
Departmental resources going into cancer research complement these other funders, and the fluctuating spend stems from the cycle of commissioning as projects and programmes start and finish rather than any established policy to change funding levels.