Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce gender inequalities in HIV diagnosis in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is not acceptable that young women, particularly in Africa, have the highest number of new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS. That is why the UK government puts the empowerment of girls and women at the heart of everything we do and is an essential component of our fight against AIDS.

We are currently the second biggest donor to the Global Fund, which has embraced gender equality as central to accomplishing its mission. We also integrate HIV prevention and treatment into sexual, reproductive health and rights and maternal and child health programmes across much of sub-Saharan Africa. By promoting comprehensive sexuality education (through key programmes such as the Girls Education Challenge) and driving efforts to prevent violence against women and girls, we are also helping to reduce the risk of HIV infection among vulnerable women and girls.