To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS funding was provided for (a) research into and (b) treatment of premature ovarian failure in (i) Gloucestershire and (ii) England in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (260994)

The Department funds national health service research and development through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The Institute’s research programmes support high quality research of relevance and in areas of high priority to patients and the NHS. None of this research is at present concerned specifically with premature ovarian failure.

The Medical Research Council (MRC) is the other main agency through which the Government support medical and clinical research. The MRC is an independent body that receives its grant-in-aid from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

The MRC is currently funding four research projects of relevance to premature ovarian failure on which £1.1 million was spent in 2007-08. It also supports a large portfolio of reproductive tract research and underpinning reproductive medicine research.

Details of NHS expenditure on the treatment of women with premature ovarian failure are not centrally available.