Usefulness of information from, the unlinked anonymous prevalence monitoring programme for HIV in England and Wales: Survey of planners of HIV/AIDS services

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether information from the Unlinked Anonymous Prevalence Monitoring Programme for HN in England and Wales is u seful to planners of HIV/AIDS sen ices. The study involved 2 stages: examin ation of 1997 AIDS Control Act Reports for England and Wales, and a telepho ne questionnaire survey of local planners of HIV/AIDS services. Forty-eight out of 55 health authorities (87.3%) found information from the programme to be useful in general; 37/55 (67.3%) found the information use ful for targeting of health promotion; 35/55 (63.6%) found the information useful for assessing the effectiveness of preventive measures aimed at redu cing the spread of HN; and 28/55 (50.9%) found the information useful for p lanning of medical or social services. if information from the programme wa s no longer available, 36/55 (65.5%) said it would make some difference to local planning, although 12/55 (21.8%) said it would make no difference. Lo cal planners were generally supportive of the programme, and complaints wer e mostly directed at funding and timeliness of the reports.