Government has failed to tackle HIV effectively, report claims

The government has failed to effectively tackle the increasing problem of HIV in the UK and has broken promises made to the international community, a leading pressure group has claimed.

According to a report by the National AIDS Trust (NAT), unless the government acts quickly – particularly in establishing national HIV prevention targets and confronting HIV-related stigma and discrimination – infection rates will continue to rise, resulting in thousands of new cases every year.

The report claimed that there have been an estimated 7,000 new cases of HIV in the UK last year, with increases in heterosexual transmission of HIV, particularly within the African community and among young people.

Key failures outlined in the report include: the de-prioritising of sexual health on the NHS; inadequate anti-discrimination laws protecting those affected by HIV and Aids; and no co-ordinated cross-departmental HIV strategy.

The trust has recommended the government: implement a Single Equality Act; introduce a cross-departmental HIV strategy; implement a national HIV and AIDS policy for prisons; and review the asylum and immigration system – particularly policies on charging failed asylum seekers for HIV treatment.

The trust said that it felt compelled to produce its report after the UK "failed to submit" its own progress report to the UN last October on targets agreed in the UN's Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS, which was adopted in 2001.

The declaration saw 189 UN member states pledge to tackle HIV and AIDS within their own countries via a set of agreed targets on HIV issues. The UK was one of 89 countries which failed to submit a report.

There are estimated to have been 28 million deaths linked to Aids.

(gmcg)