AIDS: Northern Ireland Campaign (Hansard, 21 January 1987)

§ Viscount Brookeborough
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Northern Ireland Office (Lord Lyell)
My Lords, the Government's public education campaign on AIDS is being co-ordinated on a national basis by the Department of Health and Social Security. Health departments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been consulted and kept fully informed of developments.

§ Viscount Brookeborough
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his reply. In view of the intimate connection which exists between Her Majesty's Government and the Dublin Government and the high incidence of AIDS in Dublin due to the high level of drug abuse there, will the Government use the opportunities of the Anglo-Irish Conference to ensure that condoms are freely available in the Irish Republic?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, your Lordships would hardly expect me to speak for the Government of the Republic of Ireland. The incidence of AIDS is kept under regular review in meetings between my right honourable and honourable colleagues with their colleagues in Dublin. The last meeting at which such affairs were discussed was in November last year.

§ Lord Glenamara
My Lords, have the Government had any discussions with the Anglican Church with a view to the general adoption of the practice announced today by one of the Cambridge colleges for communion, whereby communicants may dip the wafer into the wine instead of putting their lips to the chalice?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, not so far as I know. There have been no discussions on this aspect of the matter. The noble Lord and your Lordships would not expect the Government to enter into any religious discussions, especially in Northern Ireland. I shall refer the remarks made by the noble Lord to the expert advisory group which is dealing with all the more technical aspects of this matter.

§ Viscount Brookeborough
My Lords, do I understand from my noble friend that this subject came up at the Anglo-Irish Conference?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, not as such.

§ Lord Prys-Davies
My Lords, whatever be the special factors that work in Northern Ireland, do we have the Minister's assurance that those factors will not and could not lead the Government to advocate for Northern Ireland preventive measures different from those advocated on this side of the water?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, the noble Lord is right. All discussions that are taking place with the Department of Health and Social Security and the expert advisory group have regular input on this matter from Northern Ireland and also from Scotland and Wales.

§ Lord Monson
My Lords, given that communicants are now being advised not to drink from the chalice at Holy Communion, as the noble Lord, Lord Glenamara, has pointed out, that dentists are now being advised to wear gloves when treating certain patients and that the Government's AIDS leaflet warns people against sharing tooth brushes (as if such warning were needed), how is it that in the same government leaflet people are told that there is no danger in kissing relative strangers and, more importantly, that there is no danger in allowing people who may be AIDS carriers and who may have cuts, scratches or sores on their hands to prepare food for other people during their employment?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, I am sure that if the noble Lord consults these valuable leaflets all will be made clear to him. If he requires any further information perhaps I may write to him.

§ The Lord Bishop of Birmingham
My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that the noble Lord, Lord Monson, is incorrect in saying that the churches have given advice that the chalice should not be used at Holy Communion?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, I shall make sure that the remarks of the right reverend Prelate reach my right honourable colleagues.

§ Lord Blease
My Lords, can the Minister give us information about the composition and functions of the Northern Ireland Committee on AIDS? Has that committee in hand or is it proposing to undertake any research into the social and demographic implications of this disease in the Province?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, I understand that the Northern Ireland Committee on AIDS comprises four representatives of the Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Services, of whom two are medical and two are administrative, four representatives from the health and social services board, and I understand four clinicians who are most closely involved with the disease. I understand that there are other interested parties who attend as necessary, of whom two are dealing with the drug misuse advice at the Shaftsbury Square Hospital. The function of this committee is to do everything that is being done this side of the water in Great Britain. We are taking steps in parallel with the expert advisory group in London.

§ Lord Blease
My Lords, my question was related to ongoing social and demographic research in the Province. It is vital to have that linked with what is happening in the Province.

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, that involves a fairly substantial answer which I cannot give from the Dispatch Box this afternoon. May I write to the noble Lord with as much information as we are able to give him?

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, the noble Lord said that the subject of AIDS did not come up at the Anglo-Irish talks. Would it not be a very appropriate subject for common action by the governments of Dublin and London? Will the noble Lord suggest to his right 932 honourable friend that it be placed on the agenda for future discussion?

§ Lord Lyell
I am sure that my right honourable friend will note the comments of the noble Lord.

§ Lord Prys-Davies
My Lords, flowing from the reply of the Minister to the first part of my noble friend's Question, is the department satisfied that this coordinating committee will have the resources, the budget, to advance the campaign that is necessary in Northern Ireland? Ought there not to be a special health authority for Northern Ireland charged with this function?

§ Lord Lyell
My Lords, briefly, yes, the Government are satisfied that the Committee will be able to carry out its work and has the resources to do so. Perhaps I should let the noble Lord and your Lordships know that so far the statistics are that four confirmed cases have been reported in Northern Ireland, and that a further 30 individuals are known to be infected with the virus of whom about half are haemophiliacs. So far as we know, there are no women.