HIV

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My noble friend is right. I think that we have come a long way since my noble friend Lord Fowler was Secretary of State, when stigma and discrimination were very apparent in virtually all sections of society. We do not see that so much now, I am glad to say, as evidenced by the fact that we are reporting a continuing reduction in late diagnosis. It was down to 42% last year from 47% in 2012, and that is a key indicator in this context.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, the UK is a leading supporter of research and development into universal prevention methods, including HIV microbiocides and vaccines. With 19 million people globally remaining unaware of their HIV status today, will the noble Earl tell us how the Department of Health is working with the Department for International Development to support this research and development work?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, in November 2013 DfID conducted a review of our 2011 HIV position paper. The review paper highlighted three areas of particular focus in the international context. They were to identify the key affected populations—girls and women—and the integration of HIV responses into the wider health system, as well as broader development priorities. That of course includes tackling stigma and the unacceptable things that we see in certain overseas countries, including discriminatory legislation.