Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in (a) Bournemouth and (b) South West England for each of the past five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of HIV diagnoses, and the number of those diagnoses that were first diagnosed in the United Kingdom, for Bournemouth and the South West region, from 2019 to 2023:
Year | Bournemouth | South West region | ||
| All HIV diagnoses | Of which first diagnosed in UK | All HIV diagnoses | Of which first diagnosed in UK |
2019 | 27 | 19 | 244 | 167 |
2020 | 23 | 14 | 168 | 110 |
2021 | 21 | 12 | 135 | 83 |
2022 | 28 | 18 | 221 | 102 |
2023 | 48 | 15 | 447 | 165 |
Further information on the number of people diagnosed with HIV by local authority and health region is publicly available at the following link:
Asked by: Jessica Toale (Labour - Bournemouth West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce HIV/AIDS transmission in (a) Bournemouth West constituency, (b) the South West and (c) areas with high prevalence of HIV.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The HIV Action Plan was published in 2022 and sets out steps to reduce HIV transmission between 2019 and 2025, including the importance of HIV testing, access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, and for those who test positive, rapid access to treatment. A new HIV Action Plan will be published in 2025.
The HIV Action Plan was written to be implemented at both the national and local level. The HIV Action Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/towards-zero-the-hiv-action-plan-for-england-2022-to-2025
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has considered alternative (a) funding strategies and (b) partnerships to help tackle HIV/AIDS, in the context of the proposed reduction in Official Development Allowance funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to the global HIV response and regularly engages in dialogue, and works in partnership, with other likeminded countries towards achieving a collective goal of ending HIV and AIDS as a public health threat globally, including in developing countries. The UK looks forward to co-hosting the Global Fund's 8th replenishment (2026-28) alongside South Africa. It will be the first time that the Global Fund replenishment has been co-hosted in partnership with the Global South, reflecting the UK Government's commitment to working in genuine partnership with the Global South as part of its modernised development agenda, and our new approach to Africa. The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help mitigate the impact of reductions in funding for global HIV/AIDS programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
We remain committed to our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, and we continue to support efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We are excited to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have declined by 73 per cent since 2002.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle HIV-related deaths and infection, in the context of the proposed reduction in Official Development Allowance funding.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The reduced ODA settlement is for 2026/27 onwards and we will be taking a rigorous approach to ensuring all ODA delivers value for money. The impact on specific programmes will be informed by the ongoing Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. We will set out plans in the usual way in due course.
We remain committed to our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, and we continue to support efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We are excited to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have declined by 73 per cent since 2002.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking with international counterparts to help tackle HIV/AIDS.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are proud of our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, including the Global Fund, Unitaid and UNAIDS which have helped reduce AIDS-related deaths by 69 per cent since the peak in 2004. The UK has played, and continues to play, a significant role in this success. We are pleased to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In 2023, 25 million people were on lifesaving antiretroviral therapy in countries where the Global Fund invests.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps with (a) Ukrainian health authorities and (b) NGOs to ensure the continuity of HIV services in Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As a founding member and third largest investor, the UK is a committed partner of the Global Fund to fight health risks including HIV/AIDS. Since 2002, the Global Fund has invested more than US$980 million in Ukraine for HIV and TB programmes and to support strong and resilient health systems. The Global Fund allocated US$27.7 million in emergency funding to Ukraine between March 2022 and August 2023 to support the continuity of HIV (and TB) prevention, testing and treatment services. Through the investments of the Global Fund partnership, nearly 120,000 people received antiretroviral therapy for HIV in Ukraine in 2023 alone. Figures for 24/25 are not yet available.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support HIV (a) prevention and (b) treatment programs in Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As a founding member and third largest investor, the UK is a committed partner of the Global Fund to fight health risks including HIV/AIDS. Since 2002, the Global Fund has invested more than US$980 million in Ukraine for HIV and TB programmes and to support strong and resilient health systems. The Global Fund allocated US$27.7 million in emergency funding to Ukraine between March 2022 and August 2023 to support the continuity of HIV (and TB) prevention, testing and treatment services. Through the investments of the Global Fund partnership, nearly 120,000 people received antiretroviral therapy for HIV in Ukraine in 2023 alone. Figures for 24/25 are not yet available.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the United States of America to withdraw from the World Health Organization's HIV and AIDS treatment programmes and to freeze aid funding for centres for victims of torture which support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Tigray; and of the impact of this reduction of essential services to survivors of conflict in Tigray.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We are assessing implications of the US funding pause across development sectors and geographic regions including Ethiopia. We are gathering information and working with donor partners to share analysis of the pause and understand its impact.
Asked by: Josh Fenton-Glynn (Labour - Calder Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the suspension of USAID funding on the UK's HIV and AIDS prevention programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to ending AIDS as a public health threat. The US decision to suspend USAID, pending a review, is a matter for the US. Progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, including ending HIV and AIDS by 2030, requires collective action. The UK will continue to work with all international partners toward that vision.