Asked by: Maggie Throup (Conservative - Erewash)
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 (a) promote (i) research and (ii) interventions that focus on understanding the social and structural determinants impacting HIV transmission among women and (b) use the results of research to guide prevention efforts.
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 women.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publish a yearly monitoring and evaluation report, which sets out key indicators to track progress towards our ambitions in the HIV Action Plan, including by gender, and this data helps system partners 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 research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which also funds Health Protection Research Units (HPRUs) to help build an evidence base for public health policy and practice in partnership with UKHSA. The NIHR HPRU in bloodborne and sexually transmitted infections at University College London has ongoing research to determine the levels of awareness of and interest in HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among women and how this relates to equity factors and HIV risk.
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, what steps her Department is taking to raise awareness of advice on HIV (a) prevention and (b) testing.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
HIV testing and prevention is provided to local authorities in England through the public health grant, funded at £3.5 billion in 2023-2024. Through this grant, they are mandated to commission comprehensive open access to most sexual health services, including free and confidential HIV testing, and the provision of the HIV prevention drug PrEP. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need and to commission the service lines that best suit their population.
This is further supported by national initiatives under the Government’s HIV Action Plan. As part of the Plan, NHS England is investing £20 million over three years to implement opt-out HIV testing in EDs (emergency departments) in local areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. Provisional data from NHS England indicates that the opt-out testing programme has helped to find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV and more than 1,900 cases of undiagnosed or untreated hepatitis during its first year. We will be assessing all of 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.
The Department is also investing over £3.5million from 2021-2024 to deliver the National HIV Prevention Programme. This is a nationally co-ordinated programme of HIV prevention work, including public campaigns such as National HIV Testing Week, that is designed to complement locally commissioned prevention activities in areas of high HIV prevalence.
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, with reference to the Answer of 17 October 2023 to Question 200545 on Hepatitis and HIV Infection and to the Emergency department bloodborne virus opt-out testing: 12-month interim report 2023, published by the UK Health Security Agency on 9 November 2023, what recent progress she has made on expanding the programme to all areas with a high prevalence of HIV.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 9 November, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published an evaluation of the first year of the bloodborne virus (BBV) opt-out testing in emergency departments in local areas with extremely high HIV prevalence. Findings show that the programme has made a significant contribution to BBV testing in England with more than half the number of tests done in the programme compared to BBV tests in other settings.
We continue to assess available evidence alongside data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS- and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030 to decide on further expansion of the programme.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the ways in which the Government can leverage its diplomatic relationships to (a) advocate for increased global funding for HIV programs and (b) encourage other countries to prioritise the HIV/AIDS agenda.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK was proud to play a strong role with our international partners in shaping the progressive and ambitious new Global AIDS Strategy 2021-26 and subsequent UN Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. Adequate and sustainable financing and strong political will at every level is critical to the global community's ability to achieve these goals. The UK will continue to advocate for funding for HIV programmes and political prioritisation of the HIV/AIDS agenda at international and national levels. UK investments in organisations, such as the Global Fund , for UNAIDS, Unitaid and the Robert Carr Fund, support these diplomatic interventions and help countries to implement actions under the political declaration to prevent new HIV infections and stop AIDS related deaths.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle (a) stigma and (b) discrimination against people living with HIV at an international level.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Addressing stigma and discrimination and ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services is critical to the global HIV response. The UK is a champion for human rights.
At the UN High Level Meeting on HIV in June 2021, the UK worked hard to secure the highest level of commitment from our global partners and garner support for the ambitious, rights-based Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, so the world has the best chance of meeting the 2030 goal to end AIDS. We also endorse the Global Fund's 2023-2028 Strategy, which includes a focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including barriers to services due to stigma, discrimination and criminalisation.
Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund, UNAIDS and the Global Fund helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma and discrimination and to improve access to HIV services for those most at risk, as well as supporting civil society and grassroots organisations to challenge harmful policies and attitudes that exclude minorities and put them at greater risk of HIV infection and increase access to services for these groups, including LGBT+ people.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to collaborate with international partners to (i) strengthen international health systems and (ii) help ensure that HIV (A) prevention, (B) testing and (C) treatment services are integrated into primary healthcare structures around the world.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
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.
Furthermore, our Ending Preventable Deaths paper recognises the important contribution of global health institutions such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and outlines ways we will engage with our partners to ensure a strong, integrated approach that will support the entire health system and primary health care- including integrating HIV 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, 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.