asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will ensure that when the Open University embarks upon medical education, funded by his Department in order to update doctors' knowledge of drug therapeutics, no opportunity is lost to promote the cause of generic prescribing.

The course on drug therapy to which the hon. Member refers is to be produced jointly by the Open University and the Council for Postgraduate Medical Education in England and Wales with financial support from this Department. The content of the course is to be determined by a course team set up by both bodies.