here - United Kingdom Parliament

313WH
HIV
1 DECEMBER 2010
HIV
314WH
(David Cairns) on obtaining this timely debate on world
AIDS day. What is good about the debate is the unanimity
between the parties. We often have heated debates, but
we all appreciate the importance of today’s debate for
people suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Now that the recent tough economic choices have
been laid on the table, we are able to take an opportunity
to review what is and is not working in the UK and try
to make improvements. HIV/AIDS is a serious virus
that poses a risk not only for those who are already
suffering from it but also those around them. The ease
of transmission of the disease means that, if we do not
bring the number who have it back down from 83,000
or so, we run the possibility of letting the virus dictate
our actions, instead of taking pre-emptive measures.
Unfortunately, as a member of the Select Committee on
International Development, I have seen at first hand
that once the virus gets into sections of society where it
becomes more prevalent, it can, left unchecked, destroy
countless lives and families.
Britain is a world-leader in international development,
and central in the international community’s voice and
actions against HIV/AIDS worldwide. However, to be a
credible voice and to make an inroad into the virus
worldwide we need a credible tactic of beating the virus
at home. Funding has been flatlining in recent years and
we risk, if we are not careful, losing more than two
decades of progress that has been made in fighting the
epidemic.
The White Paper offers more flexibility to the health
service, by offering GPs more control over the budgets
that they inherit and how they spend the money allocated
to them. Perhaps outlining the financial rewards of
early screening will help to strengthen the argument.
The Health Protection Agency recently estimated that
the prevention of one new HIV infection saves the
public purse between £280,000 and £360,000 in direct
lifetime health care costs. That is a staggering amount
per new diagnosed case. In 2008, had all of the UK’s
3,550 acquired infections been prevented it would have
saved approximately £1.1 billion in direct health care
costs.
Alternatively, we can look at the money that could be
made, not saved, by early diagnosis. People living with
HIV who have an early diagnosis can contribute wealth
to the nation by staying in work for longer and therefore
paying more in taxes; they are able to manage their
health better, which results in their taking fewer days off
sick. They can plan for their financial future so as not to
require incapacity benefit in such large numbers, and by
having quick access to antiretroviral drugs they can
ensure that they do not require full-time carers, who are
often family members, for so long. That means that
their family can go out and work and contribute to the
national purse.
Of course, financial reward is not the only benefit
of diagnosing HIV early. The significant social benefits
to early diagnosis are equally if not more important.
For instance, a 35-year-old male diagnosed early with
HIV, and with quick access to antiretroviral therapy,
would now be expected to live to 72—only a few years
less than someone who would be deemed a perfectly
healthy man.
Early diagnosis enables people who are HIV-positive
to take positive steps in protecting others through safe
sex. A recent study of newly diagnosed HIV-positive
men who have sex with men reported that 76% had
eliminated the risk of onward transmission three months
after diagnosis. If the test comes back negative, of
course, it allows the recipient a wake-up call and a
chance to change their habits and think about the risks
that they have been taking. In that way they are more
than likely to help to prevent a future case of HIV in
the UK.
Early diagnosis also allows the correct antiretroviral
drugs to be prescribed. That in turn reduces the viral
load and subsequently reduces the chances of transmitting
HIV. By giving people the opportunity to take quick
and effective measures against the virus we are putting
them back in charge of their lives; they are not having
their lives dictated by HIV. I should like the Minister to
take note that women, and indeed men, who have been
raped should automatically be monitored to ensure that
if they suffer from HIV/AIDS it will be diagnosed
extremely early; that is not something that they have
chosen.
The truth of the matter is that the male gay community
and the black African community are most susceptible
to HIV infection owing to cultural sexual practice.
There is a role for civil society in bringing UK levels of
HIV down by bringing early diagnosis to those groups
and deconstructing the stigma attached to screening for
the virus. Everyone gets scared, intimidated and
embarrassed from time to time and those natural feelings
might be a barrier, preventing people in those at-risk
communities from seeking early diagnosis.
Coming out of the financial turmoil of the past few
years, it is important that we should take every opportunity
that is given to us to make positive changes to the
previous norm. We have the opportunity to put early
screening at the heart of the public health White Paper
and to create a social practice in which the stigma of
screening is broken down through the participation of
civil society. However, I believe that there is only one
mention of HIV/AIDS in the White Paper. I simply ask
that we do not let the opportunity slip away. Positive
changes to the current HIV strategy can and should be
made: most importantly, they need to be made.
3.29 pm
Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
(Lab): I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in
this important debate on world AIDS day, and I
congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Inverclyde
(David Cairns) on securing the debate.
Let us remember that some people who are suffering
from HIV/AIDS, or suspect that they are, will have
supportive partners, be in supportive communities and
face the future with some positivity. Many, however,
will be very frightened and very alone. It is a good thing
that we in this Chamber can openly debate this issue
and its ramifications, because it will reassure not just
communities, activists and lobbyists but individuals who
may read and see the debate this afternoon.
We must remember that we have moved some way
since the early frightening adverts in the 1980s. No one
who saw those adverts, with the tombstones collapsing
and the voice of doom, has ever forgotten them. We
should congratulate Norman Fowler on taking up the
cause and using the power of his Department to put it
in front of the public.