Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in developing the modern service framework for cardiovascular disease.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is making good progress on the development of the Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF), with stakeholder task and finish groups held in October and November 2025. We will provide further information in due course.

The CVD MSF will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to conduct a public consultation as part of the development of the Modern Service Framework for Cardiovascular Disease.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) will help accelerate progress towards the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade.

The Department has no plans to conduct a formal public consultation as part of the development of the CVD MSF. However, the Department and NHS England are engaging widely with stakeholders to co-produce the CVD MSF, ensuring that experts, people, and communities are at the heart of its development.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what resources they are providing towards finding a cure for HIV, and which international groups and drug companies they are working with to find a cure.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 1 December 2025, the Department published the new HIV Action Plan to support the Government’s ambition to end new HIV transmissions by 2030. The new HIV Action Plan encourages research and development with an action for the Medical Research Council to support high quality proposals in HIV vaccine and therapeutic development research. The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care including HIV research.

These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on HIV to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to evaluate the effectiveness of the salt reduction programme, and what plans they have for further measures to achieve that public health objective.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Evaluation to date has shown that through the voluntary programme, salt reductions of up to 20% have been achieved in some products. Data also shows that retailers and manufacturers have a higher proportion of products that meet the targets set than the out of home sector. Planning for future monitoring of salt reduction in foods is ongoing.

The legislated restrictions on the advertising of junk food on television and online, and on the promotion of less healthy foods in certain locations in supermarkets and with reduced prices, also target foods that are high in salt, through the inclusion of products such as crisps, pizza, and sandwiches, and through the criteria that are used to assess the “healthiness” of products, which includes salt levels per 100 grams.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government has committed to introducing healthy food sales reporting for all large businesses in the food sector before the end of this Parliament and to set targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities. This mandatory measure will cover foods that are high in salt.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish updated data on population level salt intake.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Salt intake is assessed through an analysis of sodium in urine samples. The next urinary sodium survey of adults aged 19 to 64 years old in England is planned to start in late 2026, with the results published in 2029.