§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will publish in theOfficial Report for each health authority in England the number of persons suffering from AIDS; and if he will disaggregate the statistics by age and sex;
(2) what is his Department's latest estimate of the number of people in England that are currently HIV positive.
§ Mr. NewtonThe numbers of cases of AIDS reported from each regional health authority are published monthly. Numbers of reported HIV antibody positive166W persons are published quarterly. Copies of the figures are available in the Library. Estimates of the number of people who are HIV antibody positive based on several factors including the number of known cases of AIDS, the number who may be susceptible to infection, the proportion of those infected who go on to develop AIDS, the varying incubation period and the proportion of those infected who present themselves for testing. It is evident that some of these factors are not precisely quantifiable, so the estimation can only be approximate. A group of experts, under the chairmanship of Sir David Cox, is now considering the estimation of and forecasts for the numbers of people infected with HIV and with AIDS over a two to five-year period.
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services how many terminations of pregnancy have been effected in England because the mother is HIV positive.
§ Mr. NewtonOf the abortion notifications received for the period 1 January 1983 to 30 September 1987 (the 1987 data being provisional), there have been 17 abortions performed in England where AIDS1 has been mentioned on the notification form.
1 International Classification of Disease code 279.1—Deficiency of cell-mediated immunity.
§ Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has on any research work undertaken by the World Health Organisation into AIDS using chimpanzees; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NewtonThe information we have is that there is currently no World Health Organisation work on AIDS using chimpanzees and none is planned.
§ Sir Dudley SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what contact his Department is maintaining with the World Health Organisation in Copenhagen with regard to the spread of AIDS and venereal diseases.
§ Mr. NewtonThe Department maintains close liaison with the World Health Organisation's European regional office in Copenhagen on all their programmes including the communicable diseases programme (which includes sexually transmitted diseases) and the programmes they undertake in conjunction with the global programme on AIDS.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide details of moneys(a) made available and (b) used by district health authorities in England and Wales in the past 12 months for the purpose of treatment of AIDS victims.
§ Mr. Newton[holding answer 27 May 1988]: In 1987–88 the Government made available an additional £25.1 million to health authorities in England as a contribution towards the costs of the provision of HIV and AIDS related services. In 1988–89 a total of £58.6 million has been allocated to help develop preventative, counselling and diagnostic services and to make a contribution towards the cost of care and treatment in hospitals and the community. The allocation of these funds, and any additional funding they may decide is needed, to HIV and AIDS related services is determined by individual authorities in the light of the particular needs in their areas. The allocation of funds in Wales is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.