To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received concerning the adequacy of income support for people with AIDS; and if he will make a statement.

We have received a number of representations on this topic. Almost without exception they refer to a need for people with AIDS or HIV infection to follow a special diet, said to cost £30 or more each week. Although we understand that people with AIDS are often advised to follow a high protein/calorie diet, there is research in the public domain which indicates that such a diet can be devised for little more than half that cost. The healthy eating plan which people with HIV infection are advised to follow is no more than a normal balanced diet.