§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if the Medical Research Council has any plans to fund research into HIV2; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. JacksonThe Medical Research Council is already supporting studies of HIV-2 infection. This work is being supported through the Tropical Medicine Research Board, a joint board of the M RC and the Overseas Development Administration. I understand that the MRC laboratories in The Gambia are working on these studies in close collaboration with the Gambian Government. The council is also aware of a proposal to monitor the possible spread of HIV-2 to the United Kingdom.