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’.
Although HIV treatment and care in the UK isn’t perfect, we can be proud it’s amongst the best in the world. This is in stark contrast to the treatment of people living with hep C – and nowhere is this more apparent than in the current struggle to access new hep C treatment.
Last year saw a record number of gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV in the UK. 1 in 17 gay men aged 15-59 are now living with HIV, rising to 1 in 8 in London. This compares to 1 in 360 of the UK population as a whole.
Last week nearly 1500 people wrote to the Minister for Public Health, Jane Ellison, successfully gaining a reversal of the decision to cut the national HIV prevention programme by 50%.
It has been thirty years since the HIV virus was discovered, and despite great progress, more people are contracting HIV in the UK than ever before. In addition, as was true at the start of the epidemic, it is still gay men who are disproportionately affected. Worryingly, diagnoses among young gay men have doubled in 10 years. The lack of progress in reducing HIV transmissions is unacceptable, and urgently requires renewed leadership from local and national government.
