Scotland’s appalling health statistics have long been a matter for concern to doctors and policymakers alike as they struggle to understand and cope with the high incidences of heart disease, cancer and diabetes that afflict this country. Most research has pointed to factors such as smoking, drinking and Scotland’s notoriously poor diet as primary causes. But there has always been some lingering doubt about whether this was sufficient as an explanation. Other countries, with a similar taste for fatty foods, alcohol and tobacco, seemed less prone to these diseases. And how was it that Scots were so vulnerable to the auto-immune disease multiple sclerosis?

Last year, a strong clue emerged as a result of three years reearch by Oliver Gillie, a medical expert and former journalist, who set about comparing the hours of sunshine, particularly in the west of Scotland, and the high incidences of disease to be found there. He passed his findings, contained in a pamphlet entitled Scotland’s Heath Deficit: An Explanation and a Plan to The Times, and, after consulting a wide range of experts, we published the results.

What emerged was fascinating: a compelling case that Scotland's poor health record could in part be laid at the door of widespread vitamin D deficiency, which in turn was linked to the weather patterns which deprive so many people in this country of long hours of sunshine. Exposure to the sun is one way of ensuring that we receive the right intake of vitamin D, known popularly as “the sunshine vitamin.”

The Times then decided to organise a conference which brought together experts on the subject, including the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, Dr Harry Burns. Amongst those taking part was Professor George Ebers, whose groundbreaking research into multiple sclerosis lies at the heart of today’s story linking Vitamin D and MS.

There was a remarkable degree of agreement round the table that vitmain D deficiency might indeed be a factor in explaining the Scottish vulnerability to disease. As Professor Ebers pointed out, if the evidence was correct, then Scotland had the opportunity to address its own health problems in the most direct way possible -- by a nationwide programme of vitamin D supplements. Most of those present felt that more data was needed before that was acted on, but all agreed it should be investigated.

Today’s disclosures make the case for such a programme even more convincing. Those who may fall victim in the future to MS, that most distressing and debilitating of diseases, deserve to be given the opportunity to combat it. We may not have the sunshine, but we do have the prescription that might just help them.

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