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Dept of Health

Answer

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent developments there have been in his policy on research into prostate cancer; how much money is being spent by his Department on screening and research programmes targeted at prostate cancer; and how such programmes will benefit the people of the West Midlands and Coventry. [135798] Yvette Cooper: The National Health Service Plan and the NHS prostate cancer programme outline our policy of a progressive increase in the resources from the Department devoted to prostate cancer. This will result in the expenditure this year of £1.2 million rising to £4.2 million in 2003-04. This year we are investing in a study of the most effective treatment of patients who are screening test positive, a new method of diagnosis and treatment of early prostate cancer, a collection of 300 prostate cancer tumour samples as source material for researchers and a study of the current extent of screening in the United Kingdom. The next meeting of the Cancer Research Funders Forum will discuss the creation of centres of excellence for prostate cancer research in which the Department is ready to invest. The Medical Research Council is currently considering a proposal for a trial of prostate cancer screening and we will know the outcome in four to six weeks. The benefits of all this research and any policies that develop from it will be available to everyone in England.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

355 c252W; 135798

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Expenditure Medical treatments Screening Research West Midlands Prostate cancer

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk