Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterparts in countries that criminalise those who live with HIV to encourage them to cease this practice.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Addressing stigma and discrimination and ensuring equality of access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services is critical to the global HIV response. The UK is a champion for human rights. We support the strategy of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria with its 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 combat stigma and discrimination and to improve access to HIV services for those most at risk.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Middle East on how the UK can help tackle changes in the rate of HIV transmission in the region.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK funds organisations that tackle the HIV epidemic globally including the Global Fund, UNAIDS and the Robert Carr Foundation. The Global Fund is a high performing organisation that has saved 50 million lives to date. The UK is the organisation's third largest donor historically, investing over £4.5 billion since 2002. The Global Fund Middle East Response Initiative was designed to provide essential HIV, TB and malaria services to key and vulnerable populations including refugees, internally displaced people, women, children and other populations in Iraq, OPTs, Syria and Yemen, as well as to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The UK continues to encourage close regional cooperation to tackle the rate of HIV transmission in the Middle East.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that those at high risk of HIV in the global south can access PrEP.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK's investments help to ensure that people at high risk of HIV in the global south can access Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and other HIV prevention services, to reduce their risk of infection. The UK has pledged £1 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria's seventh replenishment (2023-2025), which will help save over 1 million lives and avert over 28 million new infections across the three diseases.
Our funding to the World Health Organisation also helps to support access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. For example, WHO has published guidance on offering the long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) for HIV prevention and will help partners and countries to include CAB-LA safely and effectively in HIV prevention programmes.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with LGBT activists and organisations from the (a) Cayman Islands and (b) Bermuda where the right to marriage for same-sex couples is refused by their respective Governments.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The inhabited British Overseas Territories are separate, largely self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected representatives. The relationship with the Overseas Territories is based on partnership. Policy on marriage law is an area of devolved responsibility.
The majority of Overseas Territories have legal recognition and protection for same sex relationships, either through marriage or through civil partnerships as is the case in Bermuda. In 2020 the Governor of the Cayman Islands enacted civil partnership legislation to recognise same-sex partnerships in order to comply with the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. The UK Government continues to engage with and encourage remaining Territories that have not put in place arrangements to recognise and protect same sex relationships, to do so.
The UK Government remains open to further engagement with LGBT+ activists and organisations across the Overseas Territories to support increased recognition and protections for same-sex relationships in the Overseas Territories.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the Global Fund’s investment case for the seventh replenishment, including (a) return on investment, (b) how this will support the (i) UK's trading relationships and (ii) economic development of low and middle income countries and (c) value for money.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK is the Global Fund's third largest donor historically, investing £4.1 billion since 2002. We are currently reviewing the Global Fund's investment case for the 7th replenishment against the priorities of the International Development Strategy. Modellers have estimated that each £1 invested in the Global Fund's 7th replenishment will deliver £31 of benefits in health gains and economic returns in the low- and middle-income countries where the Global Fund invests. The Global Fund offers good value for money, delivering health best buys such as market shaping, prevention, and ensuring that interventions reach the most vulnerable. Moreover, investment in the Global Fund complements the UK's trade offer to developing countries, where our aim is to give these countries the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty.
Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) Global Fund’s contribution to pandemic preparedness and (b) the level of additional UK aid that would support that contribution at the seventh replenishment conference.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK Government is shaping its investments to improve how the world prevents, prepares for, and responds to future disease outbreaks of pandemic potential. The UK has not yet determined our pledge to the Global Fund's 7th replenishment. As an active member of the Board the UK will continue to support the Global Fund to define its evolving role in Pandemic Preparedness and Response within its new 2023-2028 strategy.