As reported by MSN, cuts to sexual health clinics could make eliminating new HIV cases in England by 2030 “impossible”, politicians have warned
A report on HIV services in the capital by the London Assembly Health Committee showed there were 6,008 new cases in England in 2023 – almost double the amount in 2019, when 3,859 people were diagnosed.
Labour’s Krupesh Hirani, chair of the committee, told The Independent it would be “impossible” to hit the 2030 targets if public health budgets, that support testing and public outreach programs to target at-risk groups, aren’t protected and continue to be cut.
He said: “The importance of testing with HIV is well documented and well evidenced and the obvious outcome and benefit of testing is to make sure we identify people who may be living with HIV but also it will help if people know what their status is in terms of what action they can take.”
In their report, assembly members urged London Mayor Sadiq Khan to write to the health secretary, Wes Streeting to request an increase in the public health grant to 2015 levels in real terms by 2029. They also asked the mayor to request funding for HIV testing be provided in other healthcare settings, such as GP surgeries.
Another key recommendation was that PrEP medication is made available in pharmacies – a move that would need to be agreed by the Department for Health and Social Care.
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