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We welcome that the Budget provides significant increased investment in the NHS, which can bolster healthcare delivery and contribute to sustaining the high quality of the UK’s HIV care and services. The health system needs sufficient funding to be able to deliver the interventions and care that is needed to support people to live well with HIV and end new HIV transmissions.
Looking ahead to the next NHS 10-year plan, and the Government’s commitment to ending new HIV transmissions by 2030, there needs to be specific and targeted long-term investment in the interventions that will tackle health inequalities. This includes addressing the continued underfunding of sexual health services which puts essential services such as HIV and STI testing at breaking point, and leads to worse health outcomes.
We are pleased to see the allocation of £11.8 billion to compensate people affected by the infected blood scandal. This is an essential and long-overdue outcome, for which we should thank the tireless campaigning of communities and our partners at Terrence Higgins Trust, the Hepatitis C Trust, and the Hemophilia Society, as well as the work of Sir Brian Langstaff KC’s Inquiry.
We know that unless people have the necessary care and support in their daily lives, they will experience poorer health outcomes – which for people living with HIV can have devastating consequences, therefore we are deeply concerned that this Budget fails to reverse changes to the work capability assessment. This will lead to vulnerable people facing significant cuts to their income which will exacerbate health inequities and limit access to the care and support that people living with HIV need.