HC Deb 29 January 1997 vol 289 cc268-9W
Mr. Batiste

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department has made available for(a) AIDS research and projects and (b) motor neurone disease research and projects in the last year for which figures are available. [12478]

Mr. Horam

In 1996–97, the Department's estimated spend on HIV-AIDS research will be £535,000. As yet, no specific research has been commissioned on motor neurone disease. The overall Government spending on AIDS research for 1996–97 was £13.7 million, which includes expenditure by the Medical Research Council and Government Departments; there is relatively little contribution towards HIV-AIDS research from other sources such as charities.

Mr. Batiste

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the number of people suffering from(a) AIDS and (b) motor neurone disease in the last year for which figures are available. [12477]

Mr. Horam

At the end of December 1996, there were 4,040 cases of AIDS reported in the United Kingdom who were not known to have died or left the country. The data are subject to under-reporting and reporting delays and the final figure is therefore likely to be higher. The figures for the number of individuals suffering from motor neurone disease are not collected centrally.

Mr. David Nicholson

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on(a) treating and (b) preventing AIDS in each of the last four years; and how much was spent on publicly funded research in the same period. [13042]

Mr. Horam

Table 1 shows the funding given to health authorities in England for treating and preventing AIDS.

Table 1
£ million
1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Treatment 132.7 164.3 195.1 185.7
Prevention 52.3 47.6 49.6 51.3

Table 2 shows the funding for AIDS research for the United Kingdom.

Table 2
£ million
1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Research 21.8 20.4 19.9 113.7
1 Estimate

These research figures include expenditure by the Medical Research Council, the Department of Health and other Government Departments. There is relatively little contribution towards HIV-AIDS research from other sources such as charities.

Mr. Nicholson

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the United Kingdom(a) contracted AIDS and (b) died from AIDS in each of the last four years. [13045]

Mr. Horam

For each of the past four years, the number of diagnoses of AIDS and the number of deaths reported in the United Kingdom by the end of 1996 are given in the table:

Year Number of AIDS cases diagnosed Number of deaths reported
1993 1,742 1,284
1994 1,727 1,361
1995 1,556 1,259
1996 943 802

Under-reporting and reporting delays affect figures both for AIDS cases and for deaths, thus the actual numbers, particularly for more recent years, are liable to change and will be greater than those given.

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