Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending opt out HIV testing to areas of high prevalence as defined by the UK Health Security Agency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Provisional data from NHS England indicates that the HIV opt-out testing programme has helped find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV during its first year. We are currently assessing all the evidence from the results of the programme's first year and its contribution to finding cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV and preventing further HIV transmissions, alongside data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030.
This data will be used to examine the feasibility of further expanding the programme and 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. A decision will be made in due course.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the results of the first year of opt out HIV testing in areas of very high prevalence as defined by the UK Health Security Agency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Provisional data from NHS England indicates that the HIV opt-out testing programme has helped find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV during its first year. We are currently assessing all the evidence from the results of the programme's first year and its contribution to finding cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV and preventing further HIV transmissions, alongside data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030.
This data will be used to examine the feasibility of further expanding the programme and 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. A decision will be made in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department has spent on (a) HIV/AIDS and (b) sexually transmitted diseases' control under the OECD’s DAC code 13040 (i) bilaterally and (ii) multilaterally in each of the last three calendar years for which figures are available.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Under the OECD's DAC code 13040 the UK spent:
In 2018
i) £11.1 million of bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA), including £10.1 million from FCDO.
ii) £137.8 million of imputed UK share of core multilateral ODA.
In 2019
i) £8.6 million of bilateral ODA, including £8.3 million from FCDO.
ii) £119.5 million of imputed UK share of core multilateral ODA.
In 2020
i) £9.5 million of bilateral ODA, including £8.4 million from FCDO.
ii) £249.9 million of imputed UK share of core multilateral ODA.
In 2021
i) £5.8 million of bilateral ODA, including £4.5 million from FCDO.
ii) Imputed UK share of core multilateral ODA is not yet available for this year.
UK ODA is published in line with the OECD DAC purpose code standards, 13040 is defined as "STD control including HIV/AIDS" and no further spend disaggregation is available. Please note, total UK core contributions spent in each sector are estimated based on the breakdown of ODA reported by each multilateral organisation.
For further sector spend information, refer to the latest "Statistics on International Development: final UK aid" publication.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the Retention and Engagement in Care Task-and-Finish Group to report; and who the members of that Group are.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan, a retention and re-engagement in care task and finish group was established in 2023. This group will provide advice on increasing the number of people retained and re-engaged in care and receiving effective medical care. They will present their recommendations to the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group in due course, who will agree how the advice will be taken forward.
Members of the group includes UK Health Security Agency, NHS England, Local Government Association, HIV Clinical Reference Group, British HIV Association, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, English HIV and Sexual Health Commissioners Group, Association of Directors of Public Health, BHA for Equality, National AIDS Trust and Terrence Higgins Trust.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments in areas of London with high HIV prevalence.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has committed £20 million in 2022 to 2025 to fund the expansion of HIV opt-out testing in emergency departments (EDs) in areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. The NHS England London region took a decision to include all EDs in the project, which included some of which were in high HIV prevalence areas.
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 the results of the first year of HIV opt-out testing and the programme’s contribution to finding cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV and preventing further HIV transmissions, alongside data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) implications for his policies of trends in HIV/AIDS infections in Uganda and (b) adequacy of the impact of UK funded work in that field in that country.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is the third largest donor to the Global Fund, having contributed £4.4 billion since its inception. Last year, the UK committed to providing a further £1 billion over three years to the Global Fund which will help to reach three million members of key populations, including LGBT+ groups, worldwide with prevention programmes.
The UK is helping to tackle HIV/AIDS in Uganda by providing targeted prevention, testing and treatment services through the Global Fund which procures 30 percent of HIV medicines used in Uganda. The UK's focus is on prevention, equity and stronger health systems, alongside championing human rights.
We are proud to have played a strong role in shaping the progressive Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Global AIDS Strategy "Ending Inequalities" 2021-26 setting an ambitious UN target to end AIDS by 2030.
Asked by: Carol Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North West)
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 support efforts to detect and treat HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK remains a world leader in efforts to end the global AIDS epidemic and funds all key partners in the global AIDS response, including the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organization, Unitaid and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as the Robert Carr Fund.
Our recent pledge of £1 billion to the Global Fund will help to save over 1 million lives, including by providing antiretroviral therapy for 1.8 million people and HIV counselling and testing for 48 million people. Our funding for the Robert Carr Fund and UNAIDS supports initiatives to empower local civil society and grassroots organisations, predominantly in the Global South, to increase access to HIV prevention, testing and care services.
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, whether his Department plans to take steps to support LGBTQ+ communities in Uganda providing HIV prevention, testing and care services.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
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 is through 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 to providing a further £1 billion over three years to the Global Fund which will help to reach three million members of key populations, such as LGBT+ groups, worldwide with prevention programmes.
The UK was proud to play a strong role with our partners in shaping the progressive new Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Global AIDS Strategy "Ending Inequalities" 2021-26 and an ambitious UN Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS in June 2021 to enhance reporting against targets to end AIDS by 2030.
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 his Department's guidance is for HIV and AIDS organisations applying for bilateral funding under the International Development Strategy.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
FCDO spending on global health is guided by the International Development Strategy together with the Department's Health System Strengthening and Ending Preventable Deaths approach papers. Prospective partners seeking bilateral funding should consult these documents and the terms of any calls for proposals when submitting applications.
Health systems strengthening is key to the UK's long-term approach to protecting and promoting good health, including HIV prevention and response. The UK will focus on integrating essential services, including HIV services, through improved primary health care that includes public health functions, quality of care, rights and equity, including for women with HIV who have some of the highest maternal death rates.
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 provide (a) financial and (b) other support to help other countries reduce cases of HIV and AIDS.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK remains a world leader in efforts to end the global AIDS epidemic and funds all key partners in the global AIDS response, including the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria.
Our recent pledge of £1 billion to the Global Fund will save over 1 million lives, including by providing antiretroviral therapy for 1.8 million people and HIV counselling and testing for 48 million people. Our funding for the Robert Carr Fund and UNAIDS supports initiatives to empower local civil society and grassroots organisations, predominantly in the Global South, to increase access to HIV prevention, testing and care services.