Mr. Alan W. WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total amount devoted to research into HIV and AIDS by her Department for each financial year since 1986–87.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe main agency through which the Government support research into HIV and AIDS is the Medical Research Council—MRC—which receives its grant in aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The table shows the level of research funded by the Department of Health either directly or, since 1988–89, via the MRC for its epidemiological research and its AIDS programme.
Year Direct DH funding (£000) DH contribution to MRC research (£000) Total (£000) 1986–87 111 — 111 1987–88 239 — 239 1988–89 464 400 864 1989–90 500 650 1,150 1990–91 593 1,233 1,826 1991–92 786 2,000 2,786 1992–93 789 1,708 2,497 1993–94 789 1,838 2,627 The figures quoted for 1993–94 are current estimates.
§ Mr. MarlowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his best estimate of the percentage incidence of AIDS in each EC country.
324W
§ Mr. SackvilleThis table shows for each European Community country the number of AIDS cases reported to the World Health Organisation in 1992 and the estimated incidence rate per 100,000 population.
Country AIDS Cases Reported to WHO in 1992 Rate per 100,000 population. Belgium 118 1.1 Denmark 196 3.8 Germany 1286 2.1 France 4151 7.3 Greece 162 1.6 Ireland 75 1.9 Italy 3812 6.6 Luxembourg 12 3.2 Netherlands 468 3.1 Portugal 265 2.5 Spain 3469 8.7 United Kingdom 1268 2.2 The table indicates that the United Kingdom is in a relatively favourable position compared with for example France, Italy and Spain. This underlines the importance of the prompt and decisive action taken to limit the impact of HIV on the United Kingdom population and of more recent campaigns to alert the public to the risks of HIV infection when travelling to countries with higher prevalence.