Vol. 448 No. 2
29 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Health the number of pregnant women who have tested HIV positive under the unlinked national surveillance programme launched by the Department of Health; when this HIV surveillance programme will be extended to STD clinics and general hospitals; the plans, if any, he has to extend the study further this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1682/95]
Limerick East): A programme of anonymous unlinked surveillance of surplus blood taken at ante-natal clinics commenced in October, 1992, as was recommended by the Surveillance Sub-Committee of the National AIDS Strategy Committee. The sub-committee, in recommending that such surveillance programme should be undertaken, was also of the view that it should be in operation for at least three years before any valid conclusions could be drawn from the statistics produced. This 3-year period will expire in October 1995, and it would be premature, therefore, at this stage, to comment in details on the statistics available from the programme. I understand, however, that preliminary results indicate that the incidence of HIV positive cases is in line with that of other countries such as the United Kingdom.
