Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Brine Excerpts

Tuesday 6th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)]

Women living with HIV of course have the right to healthcare on the same terms as anyone else, except that now they do not when it comes to starting a family. Many people living with HIV are currently excluded from accessing fertility treatment, both by law and by the Government’s microbiological safety guidelines. So will the Government now follow the scientific evidence, particularly on undetectable viral load, and remove what are surely discriminatory restrictions on the basis of HIV status?

[Maria Caulfield]

I thank the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee for his question, as he raises an important point. Last year, we asked the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs to reconsider this specific issue. It set up a working group in June last year to look at it and we expect its recommendations this month. We will take them seriously and address them swiftly once we have its advice.