§ John MannTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will undertake a study of the proportion of prisoners who are positive for hepatitis C(a) on reception and (b) on discharge. [85038]
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 4 December 2002]: The Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) undertook an unlinked, anonymised survey of the prevalence of blood borne viruses among prisoners in England in 1997–98. This indicated that nine per cent. of adult men, 11 per cent. of women and 0.6 per cent. of male young offenders had evidence of previous exposure to Hepatitis C. The need for further studies in this area is kept under review.