A report by the NAT (National AIDS Trust) has highlighted a worrying decrease in funding to HIV prevention, and this reduction’s direct impact on the rate of new HIV infections.
In comparison with an initial budget of £55 million in 2001/02, the NAT now estimates that in 2014/15 only £15 million was spent nationally on HIV prevention. In this time the number of people living with HIV has trebled whilst the amount spent on prevention has decreased to less than a third of the original budget.
This report is based on information gained from local authorities in England with a high prevalence of HIV. £10 million was spent in 2014/15 on HIV prevention in these areas, an allocation which amounts to only 70p per person.
The report found that in local authorities with high prevalence of HIV only 0.1% of local authority public health allocation is spent on HIV prevention. In 2013 the NHS spent 55 times more on HIV treatment and care in these areas than local authorities spent on HIV prevention.
With the lifetime costs of HIV treatment and care for someone with HIV estimated at £361,000, the NAT are advocating a common sense and cost effective approach to local authorities, highlighting prevention on an equal footing with treatment.
Speaking on the findings, NAT Chief Executive Deborah Gold states: “Shockingly, in the 58 areas of highest prevalence of HIV in England, seven local authorities weren’t spending anything on primary HIV prevention or on additional testing service. Worryingly we also found no correlation between level of HIV prevalence in an area and how much was being spent on prevention. There are massive inconsistencies between regions and areas, creating a postcode lottery of HIV provision.”
With the ring fencing of public health funding to be removed in 2016, Local Authorities will have the freedom to spend this money on anything. With the trend of reduced investment in HIV prevention, this is a prospect of deep concern, as Gold expands: ”In the current climate of cuts and pressure on budgets [the NAT] are extremely worried this money will be used to shore up other areas of council spend. This would be a disaster for public health in this country.”
The National AIDS Trust is now calling on local and national government to address this funding gap, maintain the public health ring-fencing and prioritise HIV prevention and testing services. We urge you to do the same. Write, discuss, shout, and do your bit to keep HIV prevention on the agenda.
The post HIV Prevention – “Underfunded and Deprioritised” appeared first on EQView.