Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to facilitate international knowledge exchange and collaboration to accelerate progress towards the global goals of ending new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 2030.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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. 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.
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, HIV counselling and testing for 48 million people, and reaching 3 million members of key affected populations with prevention programs.
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, particularly for LGBT+ people.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support community-led efforts in other countries that focus on HIV prevention, awareness, and support for key affected populations, such as sex workers, LGBTQ+ communities, and people who use drugs.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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. 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.
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, HIV counselling and testing for 48 million people, and reaching 3 million members of key affected populations with prevention programs.
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, particularly for LGBT+ people.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration among countries to accelerate progress toward the global goals of ending new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 2030.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO remains a key funder and political supporter of major multilateral organisations and global health institutions, including WHO, UNITAID, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and others, and engages closely with these partners to promote knowledge exchange and collaboration at every level to accelerate progress on the HIV epidemic. For example, we continue to invest core funding in UNAIDS which remains the global source of authoritative, comprehensive and disaggregated data and information on the global HIV epidemic. We also provide core funding to the WHO, which has recently published new guidelines on HIV, sexually transmitted infections 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: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to support community-led efforts in other countries that focus on HIV (1) prevention, (2) awareness, and (3) support for key affected populations, such as sex workers, LGBTQ+ communities, and people who use drugs.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Addressing stigma and discrimination and ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services is critical to the global HIV response. Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund and to UNAIDS helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma and discrimination and to improve access to HIV services, including prevention, awareness and support services, for key populations, particularly LGBT+ communities. The UK is a champion for human rights. Our £1 billion pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria will support its Strategy which includes focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including legal barriers.
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: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to tackle female genital schistosomiasis.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK is supporting research and development into schistosomiasis through funding for the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) which is actively developing new drugs for the disease with the aim to counter the risk of resistance and to treat female genital schistosomiasis. We had previously supported research into female genital schistosomiasis through support to the Coalition for Operational Research on Neglected Tropical Diseases (COR-NTD) and this had led to the development of new competencies for the training of health professionals on the disease. Through our funding for The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and support for their Global AIDS Strategy 2021-26 we are also supporting initiatives to address female genital schistosomiasis and integrate treatment and prevention services for the disease with HIV services, sexual and reproductive health and rights services and comprehensive sexuality education.Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of international funding for LGBT+ organisations; and what plans they have to increase the Official Development Assistance funding allocation to such groups.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK regularly engages our partners, including governments, civil society, philanthropists and multilateral organisations, on taking a collaborative approach to Official Development Assistance funding in support of LGBT+ rights. As co-chairs of the Equal Rights Coalition (ERC), the UK and Argentina oversaw the adoption of the ERC's first strategy and five-year implementation plan in July 2021. The UK actively participates in the ERC Donor Coordination Working Group which aims to improve coordination between all actors.
Plans for levels of UK funding for the current spending round are not yet confirmed. In June 2022, the Prime Minister announced £2.7 million of new UK funding to support LGBT+ grassroots human rights defenders, and advance equality and freedom across the Commonwealth.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV/AIDS Jeopardising Progress: Impact of the UK Government's aid cuts on HIV/AIDS worldwide, published on 21 September 2021; and what steps they are taking to mitigate the impact of the Overseas Development Assistance target spending reduction on efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The All-Party Parliamentary Group Report outlines the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global HIV/AIDS response based on surveys conducted by the Global Fund. The report highlights the support to the global HIV/AIDS through UK investments but does not attempt to attribute changes in global progress to UK funding levels. The report makes four recommendations for UK consideration, including making supplementary allocations to organisations working on the HIV response, community-led responses and research and development. The UK remains committed to addressing HIV and AIDS through our development programming. This currently includes our funding of £1.4 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and funding for UNAIDS, Unitaid and the Robert Carr Fund. Future funding, beyond our current commitments, will be determined as part of departmental business planning in line with departmental allocations announced in last year's Spending Review and guided by the approaches set out in the Health Systems Strengthening Position Paper and Ending Preventable Deaths approach.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to accelerate progress to deliver on the UN 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to addressing HIV and AIDS through our development programming. This currently includes our funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, for UNAIDS, Unitaid and the Robert Carr Fund. These UK investments help countries to implement actions under the political declaration to prevent new HIV infections and stop AIDS related deaths. This June, the UK will host the Safe To Be Me conference in London. One of the key aims will be ensuring inclusive access to healthcare for LGBT+ people. The conference will bring together governments, businesses, civil society and international parliamentarians from around the world to share lessons and agree plans for action.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether continued close partnership with UNAIDS will play a role in their planned international development and global health strategies; and if so, how such a partnership would operate.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to a strong UNAIDS and we are fully engaged in the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board which recently agreed the new Global Aids Strategy 2021-2026. Our partnership with UNAIDS contributes to our goal to end preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children and to ensuring access to services for marginalised and vulnerable groups. Future funding to UNAIDS, beyond our current commitments, will be determined as part of departmental business planning in line with departmental allocations announced in last year's Spending Review.