HC Deb 23 November 1987 vol 123 cc4-5W
Sir David Price

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information is available to the Overseas Development Administration about the spread of HIV infection and AIDS in African countries; what recent requests for United Kingdom aid have been made; and what response the Overseas Development Administration has made to such requests.

Mr. Chris Patten

Accurate information on the spread of HIV infection is not available. The World Health Organisation estimates that for every AIDS case, 50 to 100 people may be infected with the virus. At 11 November 1987, 36 African countries had reported 6,298 cases of AIDS to the WHO.

The WHO is taking the lead in mobilising and coordinating external assistance for AIDS control programmes in developing countries. We have so far provided £3.25 million to support its work. In addition, the ODA has recently participated in donor meetings in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and has agreed to assist their national AIDS programmes.

Sir David Price

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out in theOfficial Report details of United Kingdom medical and other assistance to countries in Africa (a) to seek to control the spread of AIDS, (b) to assist in the treatment of patients suffering from AIDS and (c) to assist in the prevention or treatment of other diseases.

Mr. Chris Patten

We believe that support for programmes co-ordinated by the World Health Organisation is the most effective way of helping developing countries to combat AIDS. We have already contributed £3.25 million to the WHO's special programme on AIDS, which is working with 44 African countries. In addition, we have pledged bilateral support for WHO-co-ordinated AIDS control programmes in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Some equipment, training and information materials have been supplied elsewhere in Africa.

In the absence of a vaccine or a cure for the disease, information and education programmes offer the best hope of limiting the spread of the infection. In recognition of this, Her Majesty's Government and the WHO are holding a world summit of Ministers of Health on programmes for AIDS prevention in London in January 1988. We are sponsoring a number of African delegates to the summit. We are also providing £1.6 million to the International Planned Parenthood Federation to help provide its educational materials on AIDS; Africa is a priority for this work.

The ODA spends about £38 million a year on health and population programmes designed to strenthen health services in developing countries. The provision of manpower is a key element in our health assistance programmes in Africa. In 1986 we supported over 100 doctors, nurses and other health workers in the region.