§ 32. Mr. Russell BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to ensure that health authorities use the HIV prevention special allocation in ways appropriate to the epidemiology of HIV. [85030]
§ Ms JowellThe forthcoming guidance to health authorities on the use of HIV and AIDS special allocations re-emphasises the need to match funding to local epidemiology. The guidance also highlights the latest supporting epidemiological data on HIV prevalence nationally, which reinforces the target groups identified in the current HIV Health promotion strategy, which are: gay men, bisexual men, and other men who have sex with men; men and women who travel to, or have family links with, high prevalence countries where the predominant mode of transmission is sex between men and women, currently in sub-Saharan Africa, people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS and injecting drug users.
The Department is developing a new strategy on HIV/AIDS, which will also address the issue of targeting of HIV prevention activity towards the most vulnerable groups. Authorities are required to submit end-of-year reports on the use of HIV prevention funds in advance of their full annual AIDS (Control) Act Reports. The format of these reports is also due to be reviewed as part of the strategy development work.