The Green Party is calling for the next government to save money and save lives by:
- Making the HIV prevention pill (“PrEP”) available beyond specialist sexual health services, such as in GP services and pharmacies
- Continuing successful HIV testing programmes in A&E hospitals in areas of high HIV prevalence including London, Manchester, Blackpool and Brighton
- Launching a scheme to find and help the 15,000 people diagnosed with HIV who have lost contact with health services.
- Establishing a free postal STI testing service, as is available in Wales
The Green Party has today announced the policies needed to end new HIV transmissions by 2030, warning that the government’s HIV Action Plan for England expires next year.
Figures compiled by the Terrence Higgins Trust show a dire situation for sexual health services:
- Sexual health clinics have had a 29% real terms cut during the Conservative government;
- 60% of people trying to get a prescription for the HIV prevention pill (PrEP) have to wait more than 12 weeks, and some people have acquired HIV while waiting;
- Some people resort to buying PrEP online.
The Green Party is calling for expanding access to the PrEP pill, so that it can be obtained via GPs and pharmacies, will dramatically reduce HIV transmissions while reducing demand on overstretched specialist sexual health services. In Brighton, a pilot scheme has brought the waiting list down to zero and freed up 1,000 hours of capacity at sexual health services, by allowing people to reorder their PrEP prescriptions using an app.
Routine HIV testing has been highly effective: detecting thousands of undiagnosed HIV cases and saving almost £4 for every £1 spent. NHS England estimated that £2.2 million spent on this scheme saved £8 million in care costs. But funding is uncertain for this scheme, and must be renewed next year.
Thousands of people with HIV have dropped out of treatment and are “lost” to the health system, with the UKHSA estimating almost 15,000 people were “lost to care” in 2022. The Terrence Higgins Trust and Elton John Aids Foundation estimate that an investment of £7 million over two years could find these people and help them restart treatment, saving significant lifetime care costs and onward transmissions of HIV.
Making free postal STI and HIV testing available across England would help increase rates of diagnosis by allowing people to test at home without needing to travel to a clinic. Postal STI testing is already universally available in Wales, but is a postcode lottery in England.
Carla Denyer, Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said:
“There’s a clear pathway towards ending HIV transmissions in the next Parliament. The simple, proven policies in our manifesto will save the NHS millions of pounds, but most importantly, they will save lives. The Green Party manifesto adopts the many sensible policies proposed by the Terrence Higgins Trust, and I am grateful for all their work to urgently improve the nation’s sexual health.”
Sian Berry, former Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said:
“The government’s HIV Action Plan for England has nearly expired. Green MPs will campaign to end HIV transmissions in this five year Parliament, so that we can end HIV for future generations. The Green Party is calling on the next Government to end new cases of HIV by 2030 by increasing testing and making it easier for people to get their hands on the highly effective HIV prevention pill. These simple policies will save and improve lives.”
Green Party Health and Social Care Spokesperson and GP, Pallavi Devulapalli, added,
“Zero HIV transmissions is within our grasp. We have the medical knowledge to make the UK a world leader and to be the first country to end all HIV transmissions. All we need is for the political will and upfront financial backing to make it happen. The Green Party has set out a series of proposals for how we can properly fund initiatives like this that will not only save lives, but also over the long-term it will also save the NHS money as well.”
END
Notes to Editor:
[1] The Green Party manifesto carries a commitment to “work towards no more HIV transmissions by 2030, advocating for a joined-up approach using proven actions, including access to the HIV prevention pill online, in pharmacies and from GP services. We will renew successful optout HIV testing programmes in A&Es in all areas with a high prevalence of HIV” (Page 4)