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UK’s 2030 HIV Targets at Risk Without Action Across Government, Warns Leading HIV Rights Charity
A new report from National AIDS Trust – the UK’s leading HIV rights charity – is calling on every Government department to play its part in ending new HIV transmissions by 2030. It warns that the target will not be met without coordinated action across Government.
National AIDS Trust is urging the Government to complement the HIV Action Plan for England with cross-government action that addresses the social, economic and structural barriers that continue to prevent people from accessing HIV prevention, testing and treatment.
Launching at a parliamentary event on 9 September, Beyond the Action Plan: A Cross-Governmental Approach for Achieving Our Goals on HIV calls on Government departments to take decisive action on the wider determinants of health that continue to drive inequalities and undermine progress towards the 2030 goal.
The report calls for:
- Action across Government to address the social determinants of HIV, including housing, welfare, education and immigration policy
- Measures to tackle health inequalities and barriers that prevent people from accessing HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care
- Reform of policies that contribute to legal and social marginalisation, including the decriminalisation of sex work
- Greater investment and accountability to ensure HIV prevention and care are delivered consistently across England
The report highlights that while the HIV Action Plan has driven important progress, healthcare interventions alone cannot achieve the Government’s ambition of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030. The report makes recommendations across a range of policy areas, including housing, disability benefits, healthcare in prisons, local welfare provision and action to reduce health inequalities.
People’s ability to access healthcare is shaped by far more than the health system itself. Poverty, insecure housing, discrimination, legal barriers and unequal access to support services all affect HIV outcomes and continue to prevent many people from benefiting equally from advances in HIV prevention and treatment.
The report argues that unless these broader challenges are addressed, England risks missing its 2030 HIV target and leaving behind the communities most affected by HIV. The report sets out recommendations around four key principles:
- Equity and equality
- Socioeconomic security
- Legal marginalisation
- Infrastructure
Whilst England has made significant progress towards ending new HIV transmissions, National AIDS Trust warns that progress will stall without action that extends beyond the health sector.
The report argues that the question is no longer whether England has the tools to end new HIV transmissions. The question is whether Government is prepared to tackle the policies and structural barriers that continue to stand in people’s way.
Without a cross-government response, the 2030 goal will not be achieved and existing inequalities will continue to undermine progress.
Oluwakemi Agunbiade, Senior Policy and Research Officer, said:
“The progress made by HIV activism has always been rooted in communities demanding rights to improve their health. We have five years before we reach 2030 and we can meet the goal of ending new transmissions, but the Government must reflect on what policies hold us back.
Beyond the Action Plan is wide-ranging because we need to mobilise different Government departments to prioritise HIV and access to healthcare on their agendas.
When we pretend that housing policy, sex work decriminalisation or prison reform are not health related issues, it does a disservice to both people living with and vulnerable to acquiring HIV.”
Read the report here