§ 3 p.m.
§ Baroness SharplesMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is being done to prevent the spread of AIDS.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)My Lords, the Government regard the control of the spread of this terrible disease as of the very highest priority. Urgent action has been and is being taken on a number of fronts. These include a public information campaign, additional resources for treatment, training of National Health Service staff, research, testing of all blood donations, funding for voluntary organisations and the issue of advice to professionals. However, I must emphasise that ultimately it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to ensure that our behaviour does not put ourselves or others at risk.
§ Baroness SharplesMy Lords, I should like to thank my noble friend for that reply, as far as it goes. Will my noble friend consider setting up a committee to coordinate the efforts of the DHSS, the educationists especially and the Home Office, with a possible view to 681 health checks for visitors coming from those countries where AIDS is rife? Is my noble friend aware that the French have invented a machine which takes only 10 minutes to screen people; and is she further aware that Saudi Arabia, the Arab Emirates and India already screen visitors?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonWith regard to the first of my noble friend's supplementary questions, the Government attach great importance to the public education campaign. We are concerned that it should be run as efficiently and effectively as possible. No decision has been taken to set up a separate body to run the campaign. As regards the screening of visitors to the United Kingdom, I do not have at my fingertips information about France or Saudi Arabia. There has been much press speculation about this matter. I can confirm that the present position is that visitors, or for that matter those returning to the United Kingdom, are not screened for AIDS and that the Government have taken no decision to introduce such screening in the future.
§ Lord Cledwyn of PenrhosMy Lords, the noble Baroness has described the disease as a terrible one, and all of us would agree with that. Can she say to what extent the incidence of the disease is increasing in this country? We support entirely the steps which the Government are taking to seek to control and if possible eliminate the disease, but to what extent is there any danger that it could reach epidemic proportions? Secondly, may I ask to what extent it is true that the incidence of the disease is greater in the prisons of this country? Is there any truth in that suggestion and has she any statistics to support it? If it is true, what further steps are her right honourable friends taking to deal with the situation?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonIn answer to the noble Lord, Lord Cledwyn, at the end of September there were 512 cases, of whom 250 have died. The estimated number of those infected with the virus is about 30,000. The number of cases may be doubling roughly every 10 months but it is difficult to make longer term predictions with confidence. Everything depends on the behaviour of individuals. Our aim is to inform people about AIDS and how to avoid becoming infected, because on present evidence it appears that once infected a person remains infectious for life even though he may have no symptoms. As regards the second part of the question from the noble Lord, Lord Cledwyn, I do not think that it is right to suggest that there is a higher incidence of the disease in prisons. The greatest incidence of the disease is in the Greater London area.
Lord Campbell of CroyMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that there is a high proportion of AIDS cases in the Edinburgh area, where the disease is being spread by drug addicts who are sharing needles or syringes? Have the Government any plans to deal with this serious risk, bearing in mind that it is the Scottish Office that is responsible for health in Scotland and not the DHSS, which is my noble friend's department?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the Government have taken note of the report issued last month by the 682 Scottish Committee on AIDS and Drug Misuse and will be responding as soon as possible to its far-reaching recommendations.
§ Lord KilmarnockMy Lords, are the Government aware of the calculation that has been made that in four years' time 465 people per month will die from AIDS—the equivalent of those killed in a crash of a full Jumbo jet? In view of that terrifying forecast, are they satisfied that their advertising campaign is adequate? Are the Government aware that it has been widely criticised as being much too feeble, possibly because of fear of public disapproval, and has failed to provide enough information to help to prevent the spread of the virus? Finally, are the Government satisfied that sufficient funds are being devoted to research into this disease?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the main components of the campaign are a series of newspaper advertisements, a comprehensive booklet produced by the Health Education Council and a telephone advisory service—the Health Line—run by the College of Health. Most helpful literature has also been produced for the at-risk groups by several voluntary bodies such as the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse. The effectiveness of the current measures is being kept under review. No options for the future have been ruled out. I know that the Chief Medical Officer and Health Ministers are only too ready to go anywhere, and speak on television, radio, or at public meetings if they are invited to do so.
We have already made considerable resources available—for example, £2.5 million for the AIDS information campaign, £2.5 million for the three Thames regions, support for the voluntary sector, training and research. This is in addition to the resources that have already been committed by health authorities. Funding requirements are being kept under review in the light of the developing situation.
§ Baroness Masham of IltonMy Lords, may I ask the Minister how much research has been carried out on why drug addicts in Edinburgh and New York City use "shooting galleries"—that is, the sharing of contaminated needles? Can the noble Baroness say why they are doing this? Concerning this matter, is she aware that in Scotland there is now a baby being fostered who is up for adoption?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, I do not know why drug addicts share contaminated needles. It may be because drug addiction is illegal and underground and therefore needles are shared in a clandestine manner. I did know about the baby.
§ Lord AveburyMy Lords, further to the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Cledwyn, with regard to prisons, is the noble Baroness aware that even if the incidence of AIDS in prisons is not higher than it is among the general public, there are widespread, if possibly unfounded, fears among both prison inmates and staff about the risks that they incur through close proximity with sufferers from AIDS in overcrowded prisons? Can the noble Baroness say what sums of money are being made available, through the prison 683 service or otherwise, to ensure that proper information about the kinds of risk that are peculiar to the prisons is given to both inmates and staff?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the situation in prisons is no different from that in the outside world. AIDS is not highly infectious, and dedicated isolation units are not considered appropriate for AIDS patients. The wide spectrum of illness associated with the infection requires the use of normal district general hospital in-patient and out-patient facilities.
§ Lord Elwyn-JonesMy Lords, can the Minister indicate what contribution this country is making to medical research into this problem? Our scientists and doctors possess great expertise. Are they being adequately called upon in this very serious challenge to the world's health?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the Government-funded Medical Research Council is responsible for co-ordinating research on AIDS in the United Kingdom. At present 12 special project grants have been awarded at a total cost of about £1 million. That includes a contribution from health departments of up to £300,000 per annum for epidemiological research and for the new United Kingdom Centre for Co-ordinating Epidemiological Research on AIDS.
§ Baroness Lane-FoxMy Lords, perhaps I may refer to the earlier reply given by my noble friend the Minister, and ask her whether she is aware that there is general concern at the lack of a screening method for visitors and immigrants, especially as it is believed that that would emphasise the heterosexual aspect in transmitting this vile disease?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the screening of visitors, whether on a comprehensive or selective basis, would involve a number of formidable practical problems; and its effectiveness as a method of combating the spread of AIDS in this country has been questioned by medical experts. All the relevant factors will be examined before any decision on this matter is made.
§ Lord ChalfontMy Lords, following the exchange concerning the incidence of AIDS in prison, is it true that medical statistics show a close correlation between AIDS and promiscuous homosexual activity? If that is so, are we in any way inhibited from making that clear in the information which we give to our people to enable them to avoid this dreadful disease?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonNo, my Lords, we are not inhibited. One of the valuable contributions that the voluntary organisations, including the gay community, can make, is by spreading information. As I said at the beginning, education is the most important matter, so that each person knows that he is responsible for his own behaviour and for not spreading this disease.
Viscount St. DavidsMy Lords, is the noble Baroness aware that although a higher figure for AIDS has not yet turned up in our prisons, it should be 684 watched for as being extremely likely, because the statistical bag which contains those in our prisons also contains the criminal and the incompetent?
§ Baroness TrumpingtonMy Lords, the greatest care is of course being taken in prisons, as it is everywhere else. I repeat that education is the most important thing to impart to everybody.