§ 19. Mr. Sackvilleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to advertise in the regional press in campaigning against AIDS.
§ Mr. NewtonWe are considering an increasing use of the regional press in the future stages of the campaign.
§ 34. Mrs. Shieldsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans he has to ensure complete subtitling for AIDS publicity campaign.
§ Mr. NewtonWe are urgently examining ways of ensuring that the campaign messages about AIDS are152W effectively communicated to those who, for whatever reason, may have experienced some difficulty in receiving them.
§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps his Department took to ensure that deaf people, including those whose first or preferential language is British sign language, were reached by television announcements about AIDS; and what reply was given to the British Deaf Association's application for a grant to produce an AIDS video in sign language.
§ Mr. NewtonThe Government have offered the British Deaf Association an initial grant of £25,000 towards the production cost of a sign language video giving information about AIDS, which is also to be shown on television. In addition, on 1 March the BBC TV programme "See hear" and broadcasting support services jointly launched our National Advisory Service for the deaf on AIDS. The service uses Vistel, the number of which is listed on Ceefax, Oracle and 4 Tel.
Some independent Television programmes on AIDS have been subtitled on Oracle and consideration is being given to a subtitled return of the ITV "First AIDS" programme.
Further proposals from the British Deaf Association for a network of volunteer trainers and for counsellors and befrienders for AIDS sufferers with hearing impairment are currently being considered by the Department.