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 HIV in England and Wales is useful to planners of HIV/AIDS services. The study involved 2 stages: examination of 1997 AIDS Control Act Reports for England and Wales, and a telephone 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 useful for targeting of health promotion; 35/55 (63.6%) found the information useful for assessing the effectiveness of preventive measures aimed at reducing the spread of HIV; and 28/55 (50.9%) found the information useful for planning of medical or social services. If information from the programme was 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. Local planners were generally supportive of the programme, and complaints were mostly directed at funding and timeliness of the reports.