Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT comments;

 “These vaccine trial results are very good news and represent a major breakthrough as it is the first time a vaccine candidate has shown real benefit in human trials. Ultimately vaccines are the most effective way by far of tackling serious infectious disease.  And with over 2 million new HIV infections a year this option is desperately needed.  Obviously there is much more work to do with these promising findings, but they justify the continuing investments and efforts of the international community, including the UK Government, to develop a vaccine.”

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), comments:

‘The Chancellor’s decision to put a one year time limit on the length of time people can claim Employment Support Allowance (ESA)* is likely to be detrimental to those living with a disability – including HIV. 

‘What the Government has failed to take into account is – whilst they can put a one year time limit on ESA – there is not a one year time limit on a person’s disability, or on the stigma and discrimination unfortunately associated with it.  And this is the reality of the situation people living with HIV face.’

Figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) released today show that new diagnoses among people infected with HIV in the UK have almost doubled in the past decade (from 1,950 in 2001 to 3,780 in 2010). Gay or bisexual men remain the group most at risk of becoming infected with HIV and new diagnoses in this group alone have increased by 70 per cent in the past 10 years (rising from 1,810 in 2001 to 3,080 in 2010).

On Mental Health Action Week, 23 – 29 March, NAT calls for the mental health needs of people living with HIV to be more widely recognised. Evidence shows there is a higher prevalence of psychological need amongst people with HIV compared with the general population, and HIV and mental health problems are both highly stigmatised – which often makes people unwilling to speak out. 

 Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), comments:

‘An estimated 33 million people are living with HIV globally and 2.6 million people were newly infected with HIV last year. The past three decades have seen extraordinary advances in treatment and testing of HIV, and there has also been some significant progress on the challenging path to developing new tools to prevent HIV.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), comments:

‘The suggestion by Tory MP Philip Davies that disabled jobseekers might offer themselves for less than minimum wage just to get on the employment ladder is essentially advocating the discrimination people with disabilities so often experience when looking for a job. By making these comments it shows he recognises the barriers to work people with disabilities face. But rather than making allowances for this discrimination as he suggests, the Government should be working harder to tackle the problem at its source.

NAT welcomes the second draft of the assessment criteria for the new disability benefit, Personal Independence Payment (PIP).  The new draft rules come as the House of Lords consider the Welfare Reform Bill, which if passed will abolish Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and replace it with PIP from 2013. 

People shouldn’t be scared of HIV testing – they should be scared of undiagnosed HIV     

New figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reveal the number of people living with HIV in the UK hit 91,500 in 2010 (up from 86,500 in 2009), with 6,660 new diagnoses that year. 

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust) and only lay-representative of the expert advisory group on HIV positive healthcare workers, comments:

'The recommended rule changes for healthcare workers with HIV are long overdue.  Sadly the UK has lagged behind other countries in addressing this issue...