Baroness Barker
Main Page: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)Health: Sexually Transmitted Infections
Baroness Barker Excerpts
Lord Bethell
Undoubtedly, the increases in gonorrhoea, syphilis, chlamydia and genital warts are of grave concern to the Government. None the less, there are huge areas of progress. New diagnoses of HIV have reduced by 29% since 2015, and the HPV vaccination programme has proved extremely encouraging. There is undoubtedly a need to figure out a new strategy for how local councils will deliver sexual health. That is why we have put the resolution of this at the centre of our sexual health strategy, which will be published later this year. Co-commissioning with the NHS will, as promised by the Secretary of State, be a key feature of that strategy and will benefit from the increase in the preventive health budget.
Baroness Barker (LD)
My Lords, does the Minister recognise that while there has been good news for some people on HIV, there is a consistent pattern of higher rates of infection among black and minority ethnic communities? What will the strategy do to tackle that inequality?
Lord Bethell
The noble Baroness makes a very important point. Engagement with groups from BAME organisations has highlighted that question. There is undoubtedly a change in behaviours around sexual conduct that it is extremely difficult to address. Advertising and engagement with groups play a part, but clearly the problem is more complicated and sophisticated than that. That is why we will put innovation at the centre of our strategy. The HIV Prevention Innovation Fund was an interesting precedent and may be one way in which we can address the kinds of problems that she rightly highlights.