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A new project by National AIDS Trust will set out clear priorities beyond the health service to ensure that no one is left behind in the goal to end the HIV epidemic.
The new HIV Action Plan for England published in December 2025 set out key healthcare commitments – across HIV testing, prevention, and treatment – to give us a chance to reach the goal of ending HIV transmissions by 2030.
Over a year ago, National AIDS Trust published Getting On Track, a landmark report developed in partnership with Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) and the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF). It set out a clear roadmap and priorities for how England could meet its commitments to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS and HIV-related deaths by 2030 to inform the new HIV Action Plan. With many of those priorities now Government policy, we must now focus on everything else that needs to be done.
But ending HIV transmissions and ensuring a good quality of life for everyone living with HIV cannot be done only through changes to the healthcare system. As good as HIV medicine and care is, and even with the huge improvements in prevention tools that are now available, while people living with and affected by HIV experience deprivation, discrimination, and insecurity in their lives, we will not be able to truly end the epidemic, and people will continue to be left behind.
That’s why National AIDS Trust are now launching a new project that will identify and advocate for a whole government approach to support the goals of the HIV Action Plan by looking at the wider policy changes that are so critical to the HIV response.
It’s time to widen the conversation and get all the right actions on the table.
Ending HIV is not, and cannot be, solely the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). Whether government can deliver the goals of the Action Plan relies just as much on action to address the wider social determinants of health and the holistic needs of people living with HIV. Decisions made across all Government departments including the Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Justice, can either support or hinder efforts to end HIV transmissions and improve quality of life for people living with HIV.
A person’s ability to prioritise their health is shaped by the conditions of their daily life — including having enough money to meet their basic needs, a safe place to live, their immigration status, as well as the experiences of HIV-related stigma that are all too common and have such a harmful effect. The impact of policies such as the immigration health surcharge and barriers to disability benefits actively deter some people from accessing testing and care, creating worse health outcomes, disengagement from care, and late HIV diagnoses. For people involved in sex work or who use substances, fear of arrest and judgment can act as a significant barrier to accessing healthcare and support.
But these issues are also outside the remit of DHSC’s control – and so are effectively absent from the HIV Action Plan. That’s why a whole Government approach is now needed, without which we believe that the Action Plan’s commitments will be necessary, but not sufficient, to succeed in its ambition.
And while National AIDS Trust, as a rights-based organisation, will always stand up for issues that affect people’s dignity and liberty, this approach is grounded in medical and public health expertise. UNAIDS have stated that the 2030 goals will not be reached unless social and structural drivers of HIV are addressed.
As we develop this project, we want to hear from people living with HIV, and from organisations supporting people living with or vulnerable to HIV. In particular, we are keen to hear your views on what Government departments outside of DHSC need to do differently to help the UK reach its 2030 goal of ending new HIV transmissions and improving quality of life for people living with HIV. Your insight is vital to ensuring this work reflects lived realities and makes clear that ending HIV requires action from across government — not just the health system.
Please email your thoughts on what should be in the report to [email protected]