§ 26. Mr. EffordTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department is undertaking into transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. [137662]
§ Yvette CooperSince 1996 the Department has commissioned, or is the process of commissioning, over 50 research contracts in the fields of epidemiology, strain typing, diagnostics, blood and blood products, and the decontamination of surgical instruments.
The Government, including their research councils, have spent some £70 million on transmissible spongiform encephalopathy research since April 1997. A further £29 million is planned for projects under way in the current financial year.