Mayor urges Government to fully commit to ending HIV in England
- During National HIV Testing Week, Sadiq calls for Government to provide the public health funding required to help reduce new HIV infections
- The Government’s aim is for an 80 per cent reduction in new infections by next year, however London’s local authorities have seen a real-terms decrease of up to 27 per cent in their public health budgets
- London is leading the way in reducing new HIV infections and the Mayor is committed to ending the transmission of HIV by 2030
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today called on Government to step up and provide the public health funding needed to help stop new HIV infections in London and across England.
To coincide with National HIV Testing Week, Sadiq has written to the Health Secretary urging her to take action to back up the Government’s promises in the fight to bring down HIV infections.
The Government set out its action plan in 2021 to reduce new infections in England by 80 per cent from 2025, however with one year to go Ministers have not provided enough funding or support to deliver it, with five Health Secretaries in place since it was announced - Sajid Javid, Steve Barclay, Thérèse Coffey, Steve Barclay again, and Victoria Atkins.
Instead, London’s local authorities, who pay for the majority of HIV testing and partner notification services, have seen a real-terms decrease in their public health budgets of up to 27 per cent over the past decade.
London is leading the way in reducing new HIV infections and in 2022 was the first city in England to establish opt-out HIV testing in all emergency departments, which has led to hundreds of people living with HIV being identified and supported with treatment for the first time.
However, the Mayor believes that Government must increase funding to local authorities to help increase testing outside of A&E, provide funding to support voluntary organisations, and widen access to PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis), which reduces the risk of contracting HIV, to the most vulnerable communities.
The Mayor is committed to ending the transmission of HIV by 2030, and has repeatedly called on the Government to do more to hit this target. Sadiq signed up London as a Fast Track City to tackle HIV and cut stigma, and in October 2021 the capital was awarded the inaugural Fast-Track Cities Circle of Excellence Award for its work. Last year, the Mayor signed City Hall up to be a Founding Member of the HIV Confident anti-stigma charter and he continues to work closely alongside Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), NHS England, London Councils, and other health, voluntary and community partners.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m proud that London is leading the way in tackling HIV globally and that ending new HIV cases is within our reach. However, despite the incredible progress that has been made due to the work of partners across the capital, the Government has failed to back up its words with sufficient action. Local authorities have been hit with a real-terms decrease to their public health budgets, and with only one year left to hit the target of reducing new infections by 80 per cent, Ministers must fully commit to ending HIV in England. I am committed to doing all I can to work with partners to end HIV transmission by 2030 as we build a better London for all, but we urgently need further support.”
Deborah Gold, Chief Executive, National AIDS Trust, said: “Significant progress has been made in HIV over recent years; but for the UK to reach its target to end new HIV transmissions by 2030 action must be accelerated, particularly to respond to persistent inequalities and stigma that are leaving people and communities behind. We are delighted that the Mayor signed City Hall up as a Founding Member of HIV Confident, which will work to challenge HIV stigma and discrimination in organisations across the country.”
Matthew Hodson, Executive Director of aidsmap, living with HIV, said: “I still believe that the goal of ending new HIV infections by 2030 is achievable, but it will require considerably more effort and resource to get there. Tackling the stigma that people with HIV face is crucial to removing barriers to testing and treatment, and work that supports testing, including dispelling outdated fears about living with HIV, is crucial. Testing and PrEP provision and support need to be increased, but this will only be possible if already overstretched sexual health services are better resourced – and if PrEP is made available in settings, such as GPs and pharmacies, where it will be accessible to more people. We may still be able to end new HIV cases in London and across England by 2030 but only if we adjust our current course.”
Notes to editors
This is the full letter to the Health Secretary Victoria Atkins:
Dear Victoria,
National HIV Testing Week is a great opportunity to reflect on the progress made towards delivering the HIV Action Plan for England 2022-2025 and for all of us to recommit to the Governments ambition to achieve zero new transmissions by 2030. In London I am absolutely determined that we will continue to drive down transmissions and tackle the discrimination and prejudice that stops people getting tested, treated and living well with HIV.
I am proud that London is leading the way in reducing new cases of HIV and moving towards the HIV Commission’s target. As you know London was awarded the inaugural Fast-Track Cities Circle of Excellence Award and was the first city to establish opt-out HIV testing in all emergency departments, leading to hundreds of people living with HIV being identified and supported with treatment. City Hall is also a founding member of the HIV Confident anti-stigma charter.
London continues to maintain among the highest viral suppression levels globally, and we are hopeful that many thousands of Londoners will have taken an HIV test this week as part of National HIV Testing Week. All of this is possible thanks to strong partnership work with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), NHS England, London Councils, the Voluntary and Community sector (VCS) and other key health system partners.
However, all this has been done under the most challenging of circumstances.
Nationally, there is no strategic focus on sexual health services, reproductive health or STI control. Further impacting on London’s ability to get to zero is the real terms reduction in public health grant funding, declining funding for the VCS and the fragmentation of commissioning and delivery services. As suggested by recent modelling from UCL, at this rate, without additional investment and scale up of testing, retention in care and PrEP, London and the rest of the UK will fall short of their ambitions to get to zero new transmissions.
London’s local authorities pay for the majority of HIV testing and partner notification services from their public health budgets which have seen a real-terms decrease of up to 27 per cent over the past decade. If we are to achieve increases in HIV testing and partner notification in settings outside of A&E, there needs to be a significant increase in funding for local authority public health budgets from government, rather than a real-terms funding cut as was announced this week.
I know we share an ambition for a future free of new transmissions, where those living with HIV can live well, however it is my belief that this is at risk if the Government doesn't rectify the structural issues set out above.
This National HIV Testing Week I would strongly urge you to redouble your efforts and commit to:
- a significant increase in public health funding for HIV testing
- statutory funding for voluntary and community sector partners
- increased PrEP access for all Londoners who need it through greater availability of appointments in sexual health clinics, and to rollout more acceptable settings for London's most hard to reach communities.
I know great progress has been made in the past two years, but it is vital the right resources and structures are in place to implement it successfully if we are to deliver the government’s aim of an 80 per cent reduction in new HIV transmissions in England by 2025, and zero new transmissions from 2030.
Yours sincerely,
Sadiq Khan
Mayor of London