Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department has provided for research and development into a (a) cure and (b) vaccine for HIV in each year since 2019.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department supports research on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The remit of the NIHR is translational, clinical, and applied healthcare research. Basic research towards the development of a novel cure or vaccine for HIV is supported by other research funders such as the Medical Research Council. The NIHR has awarded over £10 million of funding since 2019 for research to evaluate new HIV treatments. The below table shoes the specific NIHR spend on HIV treatments, for each financial year since 2019:
Year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | Total |
NIHR spend | £3,260,413 | £1,884,962 | £1,299,676 | £2,377,284 | £1,209,822 | £10,032,156 |
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding her Department plans to provide for research and development into HIV in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department supports research and development on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). For the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26, the Government has committed to a new £20 million research project to evaluate an expansion of HIV opt-out testing, in 47 emergency departments in England where HIV prevalence is high.
However, NIHR funding awarded for HIV projects varies depending on the volume and quality of applications received and approved via open competition, which means overall NIHR funding for HIV research in the financial years 2024/25 and 2025/26 is not yet known. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including HIV.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department is providing support to (a) the HIV Justice Network and (b) other organisations working to repeal HIV-specific laws globally.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Addressing stigma, discrimination and criminalisation is critical to ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services and to achieving progress in the global HIV response.
The UK is a champion of human rights around the world and we are committed to the principle of non-discrimination on any grounds, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The UK's network of over 280 Diplomatic Missions monitor human rights in host countries.
At the UN High Level Meeting on HIV in June 2021, the UK worked hard to secure the highest level of commitment from our global partners and garner support for the ambitious, rights-based Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026, so the world has the best chance of meeting the 2030 goal to end AIDS. We also endorse the Global Fund's 2023-2028 Strategy, with a focus on addressing inequities and structural drivers of HIV infection and AIDS-related deaths including barriers to services due to stigma, discrimination and criminalisation.
Our funding to the Robert Carr Fund and to UNAIDS helps to support legal and policy reform to combat stigma, discrimination and criminalisation, and to improve access to HIV services for those most at risk, as well as supporting civil society and grassroots organisations to challenge harmful policies and attitudes that exclude minorities and put them at greater risk of HIV infection and increase access to services for these groups.