Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what cross-departmental discussions have taken place about drawing up a comprehensive sexual health strategy to tackle the rise in sexually transmitted infections.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The development of a national sexual health strategy is a key recommendation in the Health and Social Care Committee’s report on sexual health, which was published on 2 June 2019. The Government is currently considering the report’s recommendations and will publish a formal response shortly.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the one per cent increase in the local authority Public Health Grant, announced in the Spending Round 2019, published on 4 September, on sexual health services.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Local authority public health grant allocations for 2020/21 will be published in due course. It will be for local authorities themselves to determine how best to use these resources based on their assessment of local need and with regard to their statutory duties.
Local authorities are required by regulations to provide comprehensive open access sexual health services, including provision for sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment and contraception.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had, and intend to have, with local authorities about ensuring PrEP is routinely commissioned as part of HIV prevention services.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they are giving to the needs of people living with HIV as part of their development of a long-term plan for the NHS.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Following the announcement in June 2018, the Prime Minister has asked the National Health Service to develop a long term plan for the service. The plan will set out how the NHS will develop over the coming years, underpinned by a five-year funding offer which will see the NHS budget grow by over £20.5 billion a year in real terms by 2023-24. It provides an excellent opportunity to look at how HIV and other services can be further improved over the next decade. The plan is currently in development and will be published later in the year.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been diagnosed with amyloidosis in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Amyloidosis is the name for a group of rare, serious conditions caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body.
The information is not held in the format requested. Hospital Episode Statistics data show that in the financial year of 2012-13 there were 1,716 finished admission episodes that had a primary diagnosis of amyloidosis. In the following years there were 2,111 (2013-14), 2,589 (2014-15), 2,668 (2015-16) and 2,703 (2016-17) admissions, respectively, that had a primary diagnosis of amyloidosis. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the recommendations from A systematic overview of reviews on the effective, safe and appropriate use of anticoagulation medicines: protocol undertaken by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Department commissioned the EPPI-Centre, part of the Institute of Education at University College London, to carry out a systematic overview of reviews on the effective, safe and appropriate use of anticoagulation medicines. The study has completed and the report will be published online very shortly by the EPPI-Centre.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to increase access to HIV prevention interventions for women in England.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
In order to reduce late diagnosis of HIV in women, NHS England is currently considering how it can address stigma, implementation of peer support and mental health in its HIV services and will take these recommendations for women into account.
Public Health England’s report HIV Testing in England: 2017 report highlights public health interventions that conduct and promote HIV testing in women, including the offer and uptake of antenatal testing for HIV to all pregnant women and to women attending sexual health clinics as well as through community and on-line testing services. A copy of HIV Testing in England: 2017 report is attached.
Women are included as a target audience in both national and local HIV prevention campaigns and media campaigns that promote a variety of HIV prevention options that target most at-risk populations which include men who have sex with men, black African women and men as well as women and men from other black and minority ethnic communities with a high or increasing burden of HIV.
The HIV Prevention Innovation Fund, organised by Public Health England, is open to voluntary sector organisations offering novel HIV prevention activities. Of the 12 projects funded in 2017/18, nine were inclusive of women.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to tackle the late diagnosis of women infected with HIV in England.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
In order to reduce late diagnosis of HIV in women, NHS England is currently considering how it can address stigma, implementation of peer support and mental health in its HIV services and will take these recommendations for women into account.
Public Health England’s report HIV Testing in England: 2017 report highlights public health interventions that conduct and promote HIV testing in women, including the offer and uptake of antenatal testing for HIV to all pregnant women and to women attending sexual health clinics as well as through community and on-line testing services. A copy of HIV Testing in England: 2017 report is attached.
Women are included as a target audience in both national and local HIV prevention campaigns and media campaigns that promote a variety of HIV prevention options that target most at-risk populations which include men who have sex with men, black African women and men as well as women and men from other black and minority ethnic communities with a high or increasing burden of HIV.
The HIV Prevention Innovation Fund, organised by Public Health England, is open to voluntary sector organisations offering novel HIV prevention activities. Of the 12 projects funded in 2017/18, nine were inclusive of women.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of women in England who are accessing HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Interim Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Impact trial analysis, including reported gender of participants, will be available in winter 2018/19.
No information is available on the number and gender of individuals accessing PrEP privately or purchasing generic PrEP from outside the country.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much was spent on specialist HIV treatment and care in England in (1) 2014–15, (2) 2015–16, and (3) 2016–17.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Data provided by NHS England on spend on specialist HIV treatment and care in England is shown in the following table.
2014/15 | £539.3 million |
2015/16 | £552.8 million |
2016/17 | £634.6 million |