HC Deb 11 January 1988 vol 125 cc170-1W
Mr. Butler

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information is available to his Department on(a) the number of AIDS cases and (b) the number of HIV carriers currently in the world.

Mr. Newton

The number of cases of AIDS reported globally to the World Health Organisation by 9 December 1987 was 72,004. It should be noted that the completeness and accuracy of reporting vary from country to country. Some countries do publish estimates of the number of people infected with HIV, but the inevitable inaccuracies and the lack of complete data make it impossible to arrive at meaningful worldwide figures.

Mr. Butler

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will direct the health departments covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland to project the total number of AIDS cases to the same date to which the Scottish Office projects such figures; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Newton

As my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland said in his reply to my hon. Friend on 15 December at column450, the projections of future numbers of cases of AIDS contained in the report of the working party on Health Service implications of HIV infection in Scotland—the Tayler report—were made on a very limited base and are being kept under review. The Government look to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and the Communicable Disease (Scotland) Unit for advice on these matters. Their current view is that it is not possible, on the evidence currently available, to make reliable estimates of the numbers of cases of AIDS after this year, as I stated in my reply to my hon. Friend on 20 November at column 708.

Mr. Frank Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if any of the additional £10 million to be allocated to the three Thames regions in further recognition of the particular pressures in these areas arising from the number of AIDS patients has been earmarked for the London Lighthouse.

Mr. Newton

The North West Thames regional health authority has approved a capital grant of £500,000 to

Married couple Single person
Cash Amount Index Cash Amoount Index
£ (Nov80=100) £ (Nov 80 = 100)
November 1980 43.45 100 27.15 100
November 1981 47.35 109.0 29.60 109.0
November 1982 52.55 120.9 32.85 121.0
November 1983 54.50 125.4 34.05 125.4
November 1984 57.30 131.9 35.80 131.9
November 1985 61.30 141.1 38.30 141.1
July 1986 61.95 142.6 38.70 142.5
April 1987 63.25 145.6 39.50 145.5
April 1988 65.90 151.7 41.15 151.6