Today (30th September 2022) Co-Chair Florence Eshalomi MP represented the APPG at the HIV Prevention England conference.
Florence Eshalomi MP spoke at the opening of the conference with Ian Green CEO of Terrence Higgins Trust, Minister Dr Caroline Johnson MP and Professor Kevin Fenton Chief HIV Advisor to the UK Government.
Read Florence Eshalomi’s speech here:
Good morning everyone and thank you Ian for that kind introduction – on behalf of everyone here, can I say thank you for your remarkable 7 years of service as the Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust.
In your last six months at the helm, I know that those who are not in denial about the news will mark your massive achievements.
The way you ensured THT were the first organisation globally to take the U=U message to the masses with ‘Can’t Pass It On’ took guts and courage.
Equally, your leadership in creating the first home self-test postal service and the HIV Commission were both second to none. They will stand the test of time and be key to ending new cases of HIV. Well done.
And thank you to the team at HIV Prevention England for organising this conference today and for the invaluable work you do year-round.
HPE is a core pillar of our HIV prevention work in this country. I for one – and I know my parliamentary colleagues too – am always amazed at the impact you make during HIV Testing Week and beyond. All with such a small team.
Congratulations Caroline on your new Ministerial role. At the APPG we’re looking forward to working with you and the rest of the new Health team to take on the challenges ahead. You may be aware that the APPG was formed in 1987 bringing Parliamentarians together across the political divide to fight for the rights of people living with HIV, ensuring everyone has better access to testing and HIV prevention tools.
We’re coming together at a moment when there is a huge amount to celebrate and a huge amount more to do on HIV prevention.
I was elected as Co-Chair of the APPG on HIV and AIDS in November last year and in those 9 months, we have had many collective victories. That includes:
· Changes to blood donations rules – first for gay and bisexual men, but then – with a lot more work – together we removed the ban on those who had had sex with people from quote “high prevalence countries”. This has allowed additional donors from Black African communities to give blood and in particular, helping people experiencing sickle cell and the like.
· £20 million for opt-out HIV testing in some cities
· Ending the ban on serving in our military.
· AND the end to the restrictions on people living with HIV working as commercial pilots.
I’m proud that members of the APPG were part of lobbying for all those changes. I know Terrence Higgins Trust, National AIDS Trust and many of you in this room were all part of these efforts.
This all contributes to the progress towards the goal of ending new HIV cases by 2030.
But HIV is not yet yesterday’s story. It is with us today in the UK and still affecting families all over the world.
The APPG believes that as parliamentarians, we should play our part in addressing this epidemic. We have an important role in ensuring that laws and policies are respectful of human rights, promote public health and to try and increase the dialogue between politicians and people living with HIV in the UK and around the world.
There are too many people lost to care, too many missed opportunities to test and the good practice we know about – opt-out testing or ‘click and collect’ in postal HIV testing services – are just not being rolled out everywhere.
Why it is only in HIV Testing Week that postal HIV testing is available to everyone in England – what about the other 51 weeks of the year?
So, going forward what do we need:
1. Action on monkeypox.
We must do everything to prevent monkeypox from becoming endemic; Both in its own right – we cannot accept that gay and bisexual men will have to tolerate getting monkeypox and legions. But also because monkeypox is causing havoc in sexual health services, displacing vital appointments for PrEP and long-acting contraceptives. The chaos of the summer means preventable HIV transmissions and unwanted pregnancies. These will cost more than the £51 million we all urgently said were needed by sexual health services. The government cannot hide behind the public health grant – it is worth £1 billion less than in 2014 and local government has many burdens.
2. Get opt out testing into all high prevalence areas
This week, Prof Kevin Fenton confirmed that in just 100 days HIV opt-out has diagnosed 102 people – more than one a day. A further 60 people have been returned to care. The fact it has also found 328 people with Hep B and 137 with Hep C proves the model.
But it is only in London, Blackpool, Brighton and Manchester, Minister. There are 30 high prevalence areas without this innovation. That is 100s of people not diagnosed. How is that ok? Considering A&E testing is more likely to find women, people of Black ethnicity, those who are old and those with late-stage HIV - all this costs the NHS money and exacerbates health inequalities.
3. PrEP in primary care
Still, the HIV prevention drug PrEP is only available in sexual health services. This totally fails gay and bisexual men from rural areas, women, heterosexual Black African and Black Caribbean people and many more.
The change needed is not complex, but because it is important but never urgent for anyone in the DHSC, the need never happens, the decision is never made. Minister – if you want a quick win with little additional cost call together all those dealing with PrEP, prescription charges and GP contracting. With your political leadership, you could get this done by Christmas.
4. Finally, get the Sexual Health Strategy out the door and get more funds to sexual health services.
As our report, ‘Nothing About Us, Without Us’ shows, Black Britons are four times more like to have an STI than the population, but much less likely to get a clinic appointment. They are also most likely to be diagnosed late with HIV. This cannot continue.
I remain an optimist. Four decades of endeavour have changed so much. The prize is within touching distance. Everyone in this room is already working hard and there is nothing we cannot do together.
As an MP elected at the last general election, I didn’t join this APPG to write reports that would sit on shelves, but to make change for my constituents, and other people living with HIV around the country.
We could be the first country in the world to end new HIV cases.
This is a prize worth winning and I’m not leaving the House of Commons until we have ended new cases of HIV.
Thank You.
