§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce measures to require the Medical Research Council to allocate a proportion of its funds to projects specifically designed to improve women's health. [58115]
§ Mr. BattleThe MRC has a broad national remit which must cover all areas of research relating to human health. The Government's relationship with the MRC is governed by the Haldane Principle whereby the Council is responsible for determining research priorities.
Research relevant specifically to women's health forms an important part of the MRC's portfolio, with around £47 million committed to research relevant to all areas of women's health, including reproductive health and other conditions such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and osteoporosis.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if he will list the amount spent by the MRC on commissioning research on pregnancy-related issues in each of the last five years; [58165]
(2) if he will list the projects funded by the Medical Research Council undertaking research on (a) pregnancy and (b) obstetrics for each of the last five years. [58116]
§ Mr. BattleThe MRC supports a significant portfolio of research into reproductive health, covering pregnancy and obstetrics, and also closely relevant areas such as infertility/fertilisation and conditions of the cervix. There are currently about 20 studies at the MRC's own research 625W establishments, principally the MRC Reproductive Biology Unit, and also the MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit (including the Dunn Nutrition Group in The Gambia), the MRC Human Biochemical Genetics Unit, the MRC Medical Sociology Unit, the MRC Laboratories in The Gambia and the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit. The MRC also supports some 50 studies through grants to universities, including 6 major Programmes and 9 clinical trials. The total value of this research (both establishments and grants) is estimated at £4.8 million in 1996–97 and £5.3 million in 1997–98.
The above research excludes a further body of related work covering embryology and foetal development, for which the MRC currently supports 10 studies in its own establishments and 60 studies in universities.
Details of current projects have been placed in the Library of the House. Information on previous projects is not available.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the criteria by which the Medical Research Council decides its priorities for funding projects. [58114]
§ Mr. BattleAll research proposals received by the MRC are evaluated using the same fundamental criteria
scientific quality of the proposals;significance and importance of the research topics;proposals' contribution to the published scientific strategy of the MRC and the Department of Health (and, where appropriate, that of other Government Departments such as DFID);value-for-money.The claims for resources of particular proposals in one field are assessed against those of proposals in others, on a competitive basis.