§ Mr. BatisteTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number of deaths resulting from(a) AIDS and (b) motor neurone disease in the latest year for which figures are available. [12568]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
332WLetter from Tim Holt to Mr. Spencer Batiste, dated 30 January 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to your recent question on the number of deaths from AIDS and motor neurone disease in the latest year for which figures are available.In 1995, the latest year for which figures are available to the ONS, there were 552 deaths for which HIV infection or AIDS (ICD* 042–044) and 1,141 for which motor neurone disease (ICD* 335.2) respectively were the underlying cause of death, derived from death registration.As it is known that many of those who complete death certificates refrain from putting AIDS and HIV infection as a cause on what is essentially a public document, the number of deaths with codes ICD 042–044 is an underestimate of the true number of deaths from these causes.From the voluntary confidential register of AIDS cases at the Public Health Laboratory Services AIDS Centre, the number of deaths in AIDS patients in England and Wales in 1995 was 1,149. The aforementioned underestimate of deaths means that this number, too, is an underestimate.* International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision.