HC Deb 02 February 1990 vol 166 cc417-8W
Mr. Butler

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information he has on the rates of HIV infection among heterosexuals with no other risk factors in sexually transmitted disease clinics in London.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

There are published papers (Loveday et al,British Medical Journal, Vol. 298, 18 February 1989, 419–422 and Evans, B. A. et al, British Medical Journal, Vol. 296, 13 February 1988), which suggest that the identified prevalence of HIV infection among heterosexuals with no other risk factors in sexually transmitted disease clinics in London in 1987 was rather less than 1 per cent. The numbers in these studies were small and should be treated with great caution. Copies of the papers are available in the Library.