HIV (Hansard, 9 July 1992)

§ Mr. Dicks
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the reasons for the divergences between her Department's forecasts of the numbers estimated to be infected by the HIV-1 virus and the actual numbers so infected; and for what reasons she has decided to allocate financial resources on the basis of estimated rather than actual numbers.

§ Mr. Sackville
Overall the forecasts contained in the 1990 Day report "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in England and Wales to end 1993" have not proved significantly different from the actual numbers diagnosed to date, after these have been adjusted for reporting delays.
Financial allocations made each year to the national health service for the treatment and care of people with HIV/AIDS are based on the numbers actually reported to the communicable disease surveillance centre for each regional health authority and not on the basis of estimates. Other non-treatment allocations including funds for prevention initiatives are made on a population basis, using Office of Population Censuses and Surveys data.

§ Mr. Dicks
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the different degrees of threat from the HIV virus to(a) heterosexuals and (b) homosexuals.

§ Mr. Sackville
HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, is primarily a sexually transmitted disease. In the United Kingdom, homosexual and bisexual men still account for the greatest number of reports of both HIV and AIDS. The number of reports of those infected heterosexually is much smaller, but reported cases are growing faster in this group than in any other.
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§ Mr. Dicks
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will show from her departmental statistics, the incidence of HIV-1 virus among(a) homosexuals and (b) heterosexuals.

§ Mr. Sackville
Up to March 1992, 16,013 HIV infected adults, whose sexual orientation is known, had been reported to the Public Health Laboratory Service's communicable disease surveillance centre and the communicable disease (Scotland) unit. Of these, 10,569 —66 per cent.—are recorded as homosexual or bisexual men and 5,444—34 per cent.—as heterosexual men and women.