§ Mr. VazTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state the Government's policy on the confidentiality of a person's HIV status in United Kingdom prisons; if he will outline who is told when a person is diagnosed HIV antibody positive or with AIDS and for what reasons; and what measures are taken regarding a HIV antibody positive prisoner and for what reasons.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe importance of preserving medical confidentiality has been stressed in guidance on the management of prisoners with HIV infection which has been issued to governors, medical officers and prison service staff in England and Wales. However, the Department considers that it has a duty to ensure, on grounds of health and safety, that staff with an operational need to know are informed of the presence and identity of prisoners who are a potential risk to them and to other prisoners.
We have, therefore, established a system under which such members of staff are informed of prisoners who are 636W subject to viral infectivity restrictions (VIR). Since such restrictions, which are at the discretion of the medical officer but will usually determine the prisoner's living accommodation and may limit access to certain regime activities, may be applied to prisoners with HIV or other infective conditions disclosure of VIR status does not entail disclosing a diagnosis.
Practice elsewhere in the United Kingdom is a matter for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Northern Ireland.