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Jacqui Stevenson, Senior Policy, Research and Influencing Manager, reflects on prioritising people's quality of life in HIV policy.

Digital transformation holds real potential for strengthening the UK’s HIV response but only if the right safeguards, investment, and co-production with communities are put in place.

In this important month for the community, in a year that has seen increasing challenges and rollback of LGBT+ rights in the UK and around the world, we asked some colleagues, supporters and allies what Pride means to them in 2025. 

In early 2015 we wrote to David Cameron ahead of the General Election to ask his party to support statutory and LGBT inclusive Sex and Relationships Education (SRE). The response we received from our now re-elected Prime Minister was telling. Despite the topic of the original letter, the response had no mention of the terms LGBT, gay, trans* or same-sex relationship. Even the term SRE was removed – he referred to PSHE only. It was a sex-less response.

In March, NHS England announced it was pulling the plug on an 18 month process to decide whether or not to fund pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV.

Rarely has a u-turn, rarely has a breach of trust, been so misleadingly announced. Reading NHS England’s press release, ‘Update on commissioning and provision of PrEP for HIV prevention’ (21 March 2016), you would think the NHS were simply clarifying progress to date and the well understood responsibilities for the commissioning of PrEP. In fact this press release was the announcement of a shocking U-turn as NHS England suddenly abandoned its own process for the approval of PrEP, just before its conclusion, with nothing to replace it bar some loose change found down the back of the sofa.

Reducing new HIV infections has been a priority in the UK ever since the epidemic’s outbreak. It’s taken so seriously the vast majority of ways to prevent infection are free to those who need them. Condoms and lube can be accessed for free, people who inject drugs should have access to free injecting equipment through Needle and Syringe Programmes, and people can begin HIV treatment (also free) immediately if this reduces their risk of passing on HIV to others. These methods have and will continue to contribute to the UK’s relatively successful response to the epidemic.

Yesterday, Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, wrote a letter to fellow conservative MP, Neil Carmichael, outlining why her Government won't be accepting his calls as Chair of the Education Select Committee for compulsory SRE and PSHE.

This Wednesday the House of Lords will be voting on two vitally important amendments to the Welfare Reform and Work Bill. If these amendments are not accepted it will mean that future claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (Work Related Activity Group) will face a £30 a week cut to their income.

In my last blog I welcomed PHE’s new tender for a national HIV prevention programme. The annual value of the programme is £1.2 million, the same as the value for HIV Prevention England in 2015/16. In the current context of significant cuts to the public health budget announced by the Chancellor in his Spending Review, to maintain the programme’s value is an achievement, and absolutely necessary given experts agree that HIV incidence is increasing.

Part One. Just before the Christmas holidays Public Health England (PHE) released their tender documentation for a new national HIV prevention programme, to last for three years from 2016/17, with the possibility of extensions for a maximum of a further two years.

Recently-released official statistics show that last year, there were just over 85,000 people accessing HIV treatment and care in the UK. Almost all (91%) of this group were on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and 95% of those on ART had achieved ‘viral suppression’ – this means HIV can no longer be detected in their blood and they can consider themselves ‘non-infectious’.