HIV (Hansard, 17 May 1991)

§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley

We are today publishing the first results of the Government funded Medical Research292W Council's anonymised HIV surveys. These surveys involved testing blood from a wide selection of patients who have had blood taken for other purposes. Great care must be taken in interpreting these preliminary results because the samples were small. Nevertheless they show that the priority we have given to public education campaigns is justified.

The first results show that the overall prevalance of HIV infection in women attending certain ante-natal clinics in inner London is one in 500. These figures show a fivefold range from about one in 200 to more than one in 1,000 in the inner London clinics surveyed.

In the small number of clinics surveys in outer London and the south-east there was a wide range from about one in 300 to one in 2,500, but half these clinics had no positive results.

In other parts of the country, only one test in 16,000 in ante-natal clinics was positive.

Among heterosexual women attending certain sexually transmitted diseases clinics in inner London the prevalence rate was one in 500; however, it was one in 100 for heterosexual men. Among homosexual and bisexual men attending the same clinics there is evidence of continuing transmission. The current prevalence rate is one in five.

These initial results, though preliminary, provide valuable information to help us target our response to the epidemic. We intend to establish and lead an AIDS action group to reinforce action in areas with high prevalence rates. The group will address issues such as access to local services, local prevention and education initiatives and how to reach particular groups such as women, children and ethnic minorities. It will draw on the experience of local service providers and include within its membership representatives from health and local authorities, voluntary organisations and local communities.