Mr. DavidYoung asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when his Department was first aware that acquired immune deficiency syndrome infected blood supplies from abroad could be dangerous to those suffering from blood disorders; and what action was then taken to seek to combat the danger.
§ Mr. HayhoeSupplies of whole blood are not imported since the United Kingdom is self sufficient in its needs for blood for transfusions; it is only certain blood products which are imported.
In 1983 evidence emerged that in the United States of America haemophiliacs were contracting AIDS. Although the mechanism of infection was not known, it was presumed that it had been transmitted through use of blood products such as Factor VIII. Once the virus HTLV III had been identified as the causative agent (first reported in April 1984) and it had been characterised, experimental evidence suggested that heat-treatment processes could inactivate the virus and could be employed to reduce the risk of transmission. Even before product licences were granted earlier this year, clinicians were free to prescribe imported commercial heat-treated products such as Factor VIII on a named patient basis. All Factor VIII now released for use in the United Kingdom is heat-treated.