§ Mr. StrangTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department began to collect information on HIV/AIDS.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Department first began to collect information on HIV/AIDS in 1981, when the acquired immune deficiency syndrome was recognised in the United States of America. The Public Health Laboratory Service communicable disease surveillance centre began surveillance of AIDS in 1982, shortly after the first case of AIDS was reported in the United Kingdom.