HIV Action Plan: Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Report

Friday 29th November 2024 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Andrew Gwynne)]

This Government are committed to ending new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. On 28 November, the Prime Minister made a significant down payment on this as he announced that emergency department opt-out testing for HIV will be extended to both extremely high and high prevalence areas during 2025-26, backed by £27 million of funding from the Department’s budgets, further confirming our determination.

I am pleased to update the House on the publication of the third annual report, “HIV Action Plan monitoring and evaluation framework 2024 report”. This report provides an annual overview to Parliament of the Government’s progress towards no new HIV transmissions within England by 2030, as committed to in the 2021 HIV action plan.

We are making progress towards our shared goals, and we should be encouraged by some of the highlights from the report.

HIV testing in sexual health services increased by 8% from 2022 showing greater rises in some key population groups, such as gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men where a 36% increase can be observed. This is coupled by a substantial progress to reduce new HIV diagnoses first made in England between 2019 and 2023, particularly among the same population group.

Overall, new HIV diagnoses first made in England fell by 12% from 2,801 in 2019 to 2,451 in 2022. However, this figure rose by 15% to 2,810 in 2023.

The blood borne virus opt-out testing in emergency department programme has been a great success and has helped us identify a significant proportion of new HIV diagnoses in 2023.

England continues to be one of the few countries in the world officially meeting the 95-95-95 targets when using the global measurement methods. However, in response to stakeholders’ suggestions, UKHSA adjusted the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets, for the first time, so that they also account for people diagnosed but not in active HIV care and people for whom information on viral suppression was not reported. This new approach shows UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals were met in England in 2023 and partially met for the UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals, with 96% of all those living with HIV being diagnosed, 94% of those diagnosed receiving treatment, and 92% of those treated being virally suppressed and thus unable to pass on the virus.

Due to success in HIV treatment, over half of people living with HIV are over the age of 50.

However, there is more work to be done to achieve our shared ambitions.

Inequalities are widening in access to HIV prevention interventions, treatment and ongoing care, quality of life and stigma across most demographic characteristics, in particular, age, ethnicity, gender identity and exposure. For example, among men exposed through sex with men, HIV diagnoses fell by 35% amongst white men between 2019 and 2023, whilst in men from ethnic minority backgrounds, there was an increase of diagnoses from 26% in 2019 to 33% in 2023.

Similarly, there has been a significant increase in identifying need for and initiation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP): highest in white GBMSM and lowest in people from ethnic minority groups such as black African and black Caribbean.

As we reach the later stages in ending transmission, it is likely that identifying everyone living with the virus and narrowing inequalities will become more challenging. Our approach relies therefore on concerted efforts across the whole system.

The Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, NHS England and a broad range of system partners in consultation with people living with HIV, their friends and families and the voluntary and community sector, are considering evidence from this report and working together to develop a new HIV action plan that will address these challenges. We aim to publish the plan in summer 2025.

I will keep Parliament updated on our progress and trust you will continue to support our shared goal of becoming the first country in the world to end HIV transmission.

[HCWS270]