HC Deb 12 February 1990 vol 167 c28W
Mr. Robin Cook

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the work of his Department on AIDS and the work of the AIDS unit within his Department.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

As I said in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Summerson) on 23 November at column11, the Department published the Government's response to the report from the Social Services Committee on AIDS (Cm. 925). That sets out the strategy which we have adopted to meet the challenge of AIDS. The AIDS unit is a multidisciplinary team of officials within the Department who work on HIV infection and AIDS.

Mr. Robin Cook

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to implement the Montreal charter on the universal rights of people living with HIV disease agreed at the World Health Organisation conference in June 1989.

Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

The Government have endorsed all the official resolutions of the conference on AIDS organised in Montreal by the World Health Organisation. These do not include the charter to which the hon. Member refers. The strategy which the Government have adopted to meet the challenge of AIDS is set out in our response to the report from the Social Services Committee on AIDS (Cm. 925).