Jimmy Deenihan
Ceist:211 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Health the number of full blown AIDS cases reported in County Kerry; and the number of people who have tested HIV positive.
Written Answers. - County Kerry AIDS/HIV Cases.
The current reporting system in respect of cases of AIDS does not present data on a county basis. However, the National Aids Strategy Committee in an intermim Report on HIV/AIDS Surveillance in April 1992 has recommended that the current HIV reporting system operated by the Department of Health through the Virus Reference Laboratory, UCD, should provide data on a county basis without prejudice to the confidentiality of individual cases. Since then, the laboratory has indicated to the Department that no positive HIV tests have been notified in respect of County Kerry. The HIV Surveillance System is being augmented by an anonymous unlinked system under which antenatal bloods taken for routine clinical purposes are tested for HIV. This system is designed to monitor more comprehensively the spread of the infection and will provide more focused data regarding the infection throughout the country.