Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to develop a bespoke research strategy for childhood cancers with the worst survival rates, including Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma; and what steps they are taking to encourage drug development to treat those cancers.

The Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds and supports health, public health and social care research that leads to improved outcomes for patients and the public and makes the health and social care system more efficient, effective, and safe. Research evidence is vital for improving treatments and outcomes for people, including childhood cancers.

The Department does not directly commission research; rather, we invite funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The level of research spend in a particular area, is driven by factors including scientific potential and the number and scale of successful funding applications. It is also worth noting that all applications that were fundable in open competition have been funded.