Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Jan 2001

Vol. 529 No. 1

Written Answers. - AIDS Deaths.

Frances Fitzgerald

Ceist:

731 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of deaths from AIDS in each of the years from 1995 to 2000; the numbers diagnosed with HIV in each of the past years 1995 to 2000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2360/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

The number of deaths from AIDS and the number of new cases of HIV notified to the Department from 1995 to June 2000 are set out in the table below. The number of AIDS cases is also set out for the Deputy's information.

Year	Cases of AIDS	Deaths from AIDS	New Cases of HIV notified to Department
1995	55	46	91
1996	79	34	106
1997	32	7	119
1998	41	21	136
1999	41	17	209
Jan-June 2000	11	11	169

As can be seen from the table above cases of HIV have risen over the last number of years. However, the incidence of AIDS has declined. This is due, at least partly, to the impact of highly active anti-retroviral treatments which were introduced in 1996. These treatments slow down the progression of the disease, hence people infected with HIV do not develop AIDS as quickly as before.

The figures for the first six months of 2000 show a significant increase on previous years. Last June, my colleague, Minister of State, Moffatt, as Chair of the National AIDS Strategy Committee – NASC – published AIDS Strategy 2000 which makes recommendations in relation to strategies for HIV-AIDS in the coming years. NASC through its sub-committees will be asked to push ahead with implementing these recommendations so as to ensure that we are in a position to respond effectively to emerging trends.

Question No. 732 answered with Question No. 526.