I must admit, I hadn't realised the scale of the issue.

The issue being the elngths some people will go to in order to perpetuate evidence that fits their views.

There are many sources of data and Public Health England collate some, as per the work they inherited from The Health Protection Agency, and from next year, they will have data that HPA never collected. The NHS uses their data, chiefly because PHE is the national advisory body, and commentaries on the data are published by many bodies, including PHE, (archived HPA at present.)

The data Musket referred to can be found on the PHE site, NHS Choices site, and nicely put together in one page of links by this site;

NAtional Aids Trust historical statistics 2012

I am most curious as to why Keith A of Hertford (sic) insists on this trivial but important idea that the defunct HPA are the only source of data, when they wre the main advisor, using data supplied by others? If he knows something The Dept of Health doesn't, perhaps he would like to share it.

By the way, Dr Deplech doesn't work for HPA, but she is quoting the statistics Musket quoted above, and for some reason Keith is quoting the same figures in order to say Musket and I were lying? I do accept that PHE re for now calling that fucntion HPA, but it is a department in an organisation, it isnt a definitivee anything as it doesnt in itself exist. What's more, from April, its functions will be spread out anyway. Advisory function is moving to a core PHE role and public health observatory will pick up the anaysis. Use of HPA will, according to The Health Service Journal still be used casually, in the same way as health authority is now. I understand your confusion but your petulant insistence that HPA still exists can only be to spread doubt on the words of others. A pity, as Mudcat can be such a good place for debate when your tactics aren't on view.


Quoting figures that shape our work and then calling the only two people who declare their professional interest liars? A pity Musket isnt around at the moment, as I seem to be flying his flag, which is a bit presumptious. (He is one of my assessors after all!)

What point are you trying to make? Do you have any data to back it up? You seem to be using the same data as we do, but come to different conclusions. I suggest you submit a paper to BMJ, you are wasted here on a music website.