Hepatitis C/HIV

HC Deb 23 May 2003 vol 406 c73W

Tim Loughton

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the UK are infected with(a) Hepatitis C and (b) HIV or AIDS. [114786]

Ms Blears

The Health Protection Agency has estimated thatAround 0.4 per cent. of the general population in England (about 200,000 people) have chronic hepatitis C infection. Up to the end of 2001, a cumulative total of about 26,600 laboratory diagnosed infections had been reported, suggesting that the majority of those infected have not yet been diagnosed. There were 38,400 HIV-infected adults living in England at the end of 2001, including an estimated 11,500, 30 per cent., who were not aware they were infected.

Information on hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS in Scotland and Wales is available from the devolved administrations. While the institutions in Northern Ireland are dissolved, responsibility rests with Ministers in the Northern Ireland office.