§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are currently in prison hospitals; what proportion this is of the prison population; and how many suffer from(a) AIDS, (b) tuberculosis and (c) other serious long-term illnesses.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe number of prisoners in hospital is not known centrally. In the year ended 31 March 1988 the average daily number of patients in prison hospitals was 1,923 representing 3.9 per cent. of the average population for that year. The available information about the incidence of physical diseases of special interest in that yar is contained in appendix 5 to the report on the work of the prison service April 1987-March 1988 (Cm. 516). The only current figures available centrally relate to cases of HIV infection including AIDS. On 26 January 1989 the number of reported HIV antibody positive prisoners was 58. There was no reported case of AIDS.