§ Mr. Alexanderasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what extra resources have been allocated to Trent regional health authority in 1987–88 to help to deal with AIDS.
§ Mr. NewtonAt the end of March 1987, the Trent region had 12 reported AIDS patients, of whom six had died. No additional funds have been allocated to the Trent regional health authority specifically for the treatment and care of patients with HIV infection and AIDS. It has however received an increase of 6.3 per cent. in its allocation of the resources available for spending on hospital and community health services in 1987–88, which is above the national average increase in regional health authority allocations; and we have provided £44,000 in 1987–88 for the haemophilia reference centre located in the Trent region which is specifically to assist in the provision of AIDS counselling facilities for haemophiliacs.
§ Mr. Forthasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give the latest figures for AIDS carriers and deaths in the United Kingdom with the causes or sources available.
§ Mr. FowlerThe first quarterly report which I have published today, together with the regular monthly update, provides the information which my hon. Friend has requested. Copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
The report does three things:
First, it gives a breakdown of reported cases of AIDS by patient characteristics (table A) and by region from which the report is made (table B).Second, it provides the first of a series of quarterly breakdowns of people who are infected but who have not yet developed the disease. These are broken down by patient characteristics for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (table C) and for Scotland (table D) and by English regions, Wales and Northern Ireland (table E).Third, it explains how the information is collected and checked.I believe that it is important that we provide regular full and prompt information about AIDS so that the public know what the position really is. It is equally important that the information is as accurate as we can make it. That is why the computer records have been rigorously 483W rechecked and duplicate records removed. The apparent low increase in the monthly AIDS figures is explained by this. Thirty-one new cases were in fact reported in March.We must continue to take all possible action to prevent the spread of AIDS. The public education campaign will continue and one of the next campaigns will be directed at drug misuse and the sharing of equipment.
§ Mr. McTaggartasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated cost to each health board, of the increased staff required in order to carry out testing for the AIDS virus; and if these costs are included in the Government's stated expenditure on AIDS.
§ Mr. NewtonInformation on staff costs which health authorities incur on HIV testing is not available centrally and has not been included in the Government's stated expenditure on AIDS. Many of these tests are dealt with by laboratories of the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS). It is estimated that PHLS spent £0.75 million on work connected with HIV tests in 1986/87. Part of this will have been for staff, but I regret that we do not have a breakdown between staff and other costs.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether he intends to introduce further screening for the AIDS-related virus HTLV 1; and if he will make a statement.
(2) whether his Department is monitoring the number of people in Britain with the aids-related virus HTLV 1; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Simon Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what figures he has for the number of people carrying the HTLV 1 virus;
(2) what plans he has to test blood supplies for the HTLV 1 virus;
(3) what plans he has to combat the spread of the HTLV 1 virus; what facilities he is making available to screen people for the HTLV 1 virus; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 23 March 1987, c.71–72]: Although the HTLV 1 virus is thought to belong to the same family as the AIDS virus, HIV, it does not cause AIDS.
Research studies carried out to date suggest that the virus is not prevalent in this country. There are at present, therefore, no plans to introduce measures for routine screening of individuals or blood donations for this virus. However, appropriate measures would be considered should further research show that they were needed.