Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department are taking to provide funding for global initiatives focused on HIV prevention, treatment and research in (a) low-income and (b) high-burden countries.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK remains a global leader in the HIV response. We continue to fund and work with all our key global partners to pursue global initiatives and share best practice, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, WHO, Unitaid, UNAIDS and others such as the Global Financing Facility, and continue to support stronger health systems worldwide which help end AIDS-related deaths and prevent new HIV infections, particularly in low-income and high-burden countries.
The UK's investments, including to the WHO, help to ensure that people at high risk of HIV in the global south can access Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and other HIV prevention and treatment services, to reduce their risk of infection. WHO has recently published new guidelines on HIV, STI and viral hepatitis prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations, which will support countries and local organisations in designing and implementing their HIV strategies and interventions.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to share best practice in HIV (a) prevention, (b) treatment and (c) capacity building with other countries.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK remains a global leader in the HIV response. We continue to fund and work with all our key global partners to pursue global initiatives and share best practice, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, WHO, Unitaid, UNAIDS and others such as the Global Financing Facility, and continue to support stronger health systems worldwide which help end AIDS-related deaths and prevent new HIV infections, particularly in low-income and high-burden countries.
The UK's investments, including to the WHO, help to ensure that people at high risk of HIV in the global south can access Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and other HIV prevention and treatment services, to reduce their risk of infection. WHO has recently published new guidelines on HIV, STI and viral hepatitis prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations, which will support countries and local organisations in designing and implementing their HIV strategies and interventions.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) research and (b) targeted interventions into factors driving HIV transmission within the black community.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The HIV Action Plan is the cornerstone of our approach in England to drive forward progress and achieve our goal to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. A key principle of our approach is to ensure that all populations benefit equally from improvements made in HIV outcomes, including black communities.
The UK Health Security Agency publishes a yearly monitoring and evaluation report, which sets out key indicators to track progress towards our ambitions in the HIV Action Plan, including by ethnicity, and these data help us to understand where services can be improved and made more accessible to key populations. The next report will be published on 1 December 2023.
The Department commissions HIV prevention interventions through our national HIV prevention programme, including targeted work with black African communities, and commission research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, which welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce levels of deaths from AIDS in Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK's pledge to the 7th replenishment of the Global Fund will help to save over 1 million lives. We also continue to support UNAIDS to deliver on its mandate to provide effective leadership for the global HIV response and implement the ambitious new Global AIDS Strategy. The UK continues to fund other key international partners, including UNITAID, the Robert Carr Fund, the Global Financing Facility and others on combatting HIV and AIDS in Africa.
Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the opt-out (a) HIV and (b) hepatitis testing programme.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Provisional data from NHS England indicates that the opt-out testing programme has helped find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and more than 1,900 cases of undiagnosed or untreated hepatitis during its first year. A 12-month public health evaluation report will be published by the UK Health Security Agency in October.
We will be assessing all this evidence alongside the data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions and AIDS- and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030 to decide whether we further expand the programme. We will be sharing evidence as it emerges to support other areas of the country to make the case for implementing the same approach locally.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total amount of funding directly targeting HIV and AIDS under codes (1) 13041, and (2) 13042, of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee in the financial years (a) 2020, and (b) 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Details of UK Government Official Development Assistance spending broken down by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) codes are published in Statistics on International Development. Funding directly targeting HIV and AIDS under OECD code 13040 was £9 million for calendar year 2020 and £6 million for 2021. 13040 is the official OECD code for both 13041 and 13042 and no further breakdowns are available. These codes were defined and solely used by the former Department for International Development. They did not exist in the former Foreign and Commonwealth Office data on spending and would not provide a complete picture for the FCDO. The OECD code does not cover the UK's multilateral contributions and therefore does not present a full picture of UK support to combatting HIV and AIDS, for example the UK contributed £476 million in 2020 and £380 million in 2021 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, of which around 50 per cent went towards HIV and AIDS, and £15 million and £2.5 million towards UNAIDS.
Asked by: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total amount of (1) core and (2) non-core financial contributions to (a) the United Nations Population Fund, (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (c) the World Health Organization, (d) UNICEF, (e) UNAIDS, (f) the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and (g) UN Women, in the financial years (i) 2020, and (ii) 2021.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The core and non-core financial contributions for the calendar years 2020 and 2021 for the requested organisations are listed below. Details of the UK government's Official Development Assistance (ODA) is provided in Table A8 of the annual Statistics on International Development publication. Data for 2022 will be published in the Autumn.
Channel of delivery (£ thousands) | 2020 | 2021 |
United Nations Population Fund | 86,598,650 | 61,478,603 |
Non-core contribution (bilateral) | 66,598,650 | 53,478,603 |
Core contribution | 20,000,000 | 8,000,000 |
International Planned Parenthood Federation | 49,170,738 | 42,550,197 |
Non-core contribution (bilateral) | 49,170,738 | 42,550,197 |
Core contribution | 0 | 0 |
World Health Organisation - assessed contributions | 13,541,395 | 12,487,248 |
Non-core contribution (bilateral) | 280,000 | 0 |
Core contribution | 13,261,395 | 12,487,248 |
World Health Organisation - core voluntary contributions account | 220,618,665 | 133,127,635 |
Non-core contribution (bilateral) | 215,618,665 | 35,527,635 |
Core contribution | 5,000,000 | 97,600,000 |
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) | 460,738,181 | 225,540,609 |
Non-core contribution (bilateral) | 412,738,181 | 201,540,609 |
Core contribution | 48,000,000 | 24,000,000 |
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) | 15,000,000 | 2,500,000 |
Core contribution | 15,000,000 | 2,500,000 |
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria | 476,000,308 | 380,000,000 |
Non-core contribution (bilateral) | 308 | 0 |
Core contribution | 476,000,000 | 380,000,000 |
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women | 19,405,767 | 9,183,751 |
Non-core contribution (bilateral) | 6,905,767 | 3,433,751 |
Core contribution | 12,500,000 | 5,750,000 |
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a decision on expanding the routine testing programme for HIV and blood-borne viruses in areas with a high HIV prevalence.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Provisional data from NHS England indicates that this HIV opt-out testing initiative has helped find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV in the first year of the programme. We are currently considering all the evidence from the first year of opt-out HIV and blood-borne virus testing in emergency departments, alongside the data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions and AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030, to examine the feasibility of further expanding this programme. A decision will be made in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what direct help they are providing to (1) HIV, and (2) LGBTQ+, organisations in Uganda.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Through our contributions to the Global Fund, the UK is helping to tackle HIV/AIDS in Uganda by providing targeted prevention, testing and treatment services. This includes community outreach and the facilitation of drop-in centres that offer services such as legal and human rights, psychosocial and mental health support. The UK is the third largest donor to the Global Fund, having contributed £4.4 billion since its inception. Last year, the UK committed a further £1 billion over three years which will help reach three million members of key populations, such as LGBT+ groups, worldwide with prevention programmes.
The UK is appalled that the Anti-Homosexuality Act was signed into law in Uganda and strongly condemns the introduction of the death penalty for 'aggravated homosexuality'. This legislation undermines the protections and freedoms of all Ugandans and will serve only to increase the risk of violence, discrimination and persecution while setting back the fight against HIV/AIDs. The British High Commission in Kampala engages with a range of stakeholders in Uganda, including LGBT+ organisations, to understand the impact of the Act and to drive a co-ordinated response. We will continue to stand up for human rights and freedoms in Uganda and around the world.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve NHS sexual healthcare provision (a) nationally and (b) in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We remain committed to improving sexual and reproductive health in England. The Department published a HIV Action Plan in 2021 setting out our actions during 2022-2025 to move towards ending new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. Great progress has been made during the first year of its implementation, as set out by the annual report to Parliament published on 7 June. In 2022 we published the Women’s Health Strategy for England setting out our 10-year ambitions and actions to improve health for women and girls.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual health services to meet local demand and individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need for sexual health services. We are providing more than £3.5 billion this financial year to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, increasing to £3.575 billion in 2024/25.
Regarding sexual health provision in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle constituency, Hull and East Riding have integrated sexual and reproductive health services that work to ensure that residents receive the best care, advice and treatment possible. The service continues to develop with the support of the Local Authority and the NHS to meet the needs of the communities it serves.
The Conifer Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Service is based in Hull City Centre and holds clinics at various health centres around the East Riding, including at Hessle Health Centre. It is a progressive and innovative service provided by City Health Care Partnership CIC, where Genitourinary Medicine and Family Planning, Community Gynaecology, Social Services, non-statutory services and voluntary services work together to offer a holistic service to meet the differing needs of diverse populations in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.