July 25

The world first at the Oldham and District General Hospital was closely guarded

England have

The birth of the world's first "test tube baby" has been announced in Manchester.

Louise Brown was born shortly before midnight in Oldham and District General Hospital.

Weighing 5lb 12oz (2.61 kg) the baby was delivered by caesarean section because her mother, Lesley Brown, was suffering fromtoxaemia.

The consultant in charge of the case, Mr Patrick Steptoe, said: "All examinations showed that the baby is quite normal. The mother's condition after delivery was also excellent."

Mrs Brown, 29, has blocked fallopian tubes so she and her husband, 39, have been undergoing in vitro fertility treatment.

Last November Mrs Brown had an embryo - of her egg and her husband's sperm - implanted in her womb after it had been fertilized in a laboratory.

The technique is being pioneered by consultant gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe and Cambridge research physiologist Robert Edwards.

"This work may be developed in other respects. It may include the reversal of sterilization," Dr Edwards told a press conference at Prestwich Hospital, Manchester.

More than 5,000 couples have applied for the new fertility treatment already and there are 20,000 women in the UK with blockages similar to that experienced by Lesley Brown.

None of the main religions have an official policy on artificialinsemination, but the Roman Catholic Church has raised the strongest objection.

The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh Cardinal Gordon Gray said: "I have grave misgivings about the possible implications and consequences for the future."

Louise Brown's financial future has been assured by the sale of newspaper rights for her story worth about ?00,000.

Princess Diana spent an hour at the new centre

She gave director Jonathan Grimshaw - diagnosed HIV positive five years ago - a firm handshake before going inside the Landmark Centre in Tulse Hill for a private tour.

This was the first attempt to de-stigmatise the condition by a high profile member of the Royal Family

Mr Grimshaw said: "The princess was genuinely moved by the difficulties facing patients."

The Landmark aims to be more than just a refuge and will offer advice and support on issues from housing to dietary needs.

Princess Diana spent an hour in the community-based centre and joined in a discussion group with some of the first clients to use the facility, including women.

She was surprised to learn about the additional prejudices women with Aids and HIV have to deal with.

"I think it's terrible what they have to go through," she said.

Afterwards the Princess of Wales went on an impromptu walkabout, in spite of the heat.

Aids - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - was first recognised as a medical condition in the US in 1981.

Later that year Dr Tony Pinching diagnosed the first case in the UK, in a heterosexual woman, at St Mary's Praed Street Clinic in London.

By the end of 1984, 108 people were known to be suffering from the disease in the UK and there had been 46 deaths.

In 1985 the Department of Health published its first advice on Aids and it was reported in 51 countries.

Within two years the government launched the "Don't Die of Ignorance" public awareness campaign and Princess Diana opened the country's first Aids ward at Middlesex Hospital.

The symptoms of Aids include chronic fatigue, diarrhoea and severe skin rashes.

It is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and there is no known cure.

toxaemia:血毒癥

insemination:授精；播種