Why our #SexualHealthManifesto Matters
12/11/2019
- Natasha Dhumma, Head of Policy & Campaigns
Join us in asking local candidates to pledge their support for action on HIV and sexual health. The general election is a crucial opportunity to raise the profile of HIV and the need to address sexual health inequalities. Please add your voice to our campaign.
We have come a long way since the 1980s. While stigma and discrimination remain, HIV is now a long-term condition and individuals are living with HIV into old age. HIV affects individuals of all ages. HIV treatment in the UK is excellent, but not everyone living with HIV is doing well. The number of people diagnosed with HIV each year remains high and far too many people are diagnosed late. Services which help people living with HIV manage their condition are facing continued funding cuts and access to essential peer support is diminishing across the country.
We have come so far. We cannot stop now.
There is currently no national cross-sector sexual health strategy and no national vision or ambition on what the country is trying to achieve around sexual health.
Rates of gonorrhoea and syphilis are soaring and the emergence of drug-resistant Sexual Transmitted Infections (STIs) is continuing. Clear sexual health inequalities are continuing with Black And Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, young people, people living with HIV, and gay and bisexual men, being the most affected by STIs.
Sexual health budgets have been cut by a quarter and there is no long term funding solution for sexual health services.
Read the HIV and sexual health manifesto here.
We are calling on the next Government to:
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Deliver on the commitment to end new HIV transmissions by latest 2030.*
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Commit to, and deliver, a national sexual health strategy that sets out bold ambitions to tackle STIs and improve the nation’s sexual health.*
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Commit to tackling the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV.
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Invest in public health and fully fund sexual health services to meet the needs of all communities.*
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Invest sufficient funding for training, resources and support to ensure that LGBT+-inclusive relationships and sex education (RSE) is taught to a high standard in all schools.*
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Implement the routine commissioning of PrEP from April 2020 and in the interim ensure that no one is turned away from the PrEP Impact Trial.*
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Ensure that the health and social care system supports people with HIV to live and age well.*
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Guarantee that migrants living with HIV or those at risk have access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment that meets their needs, regardless of immigration status.
*The general election is electing MPsa to the House of Commons, from across the UK. The House of Commons legislates for health and social care, and education, in England only. The devolved Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland legislate in these areas.
How you can take action
- Find out what your local candidates will to do stand up for sexual health. Identify your local candidates here by entering your postcode, and get in touch with them on social media, at public meetings, or on the doorstep. You don't need to be an expert - just ask how they'd improve the nation's sexual health. And let us know how they responded by getting in touch with me here!
- Post in support of our #SexualHealthManifesto across social media platforms, remembering to include local candidates where appropriate.
- Get your candidates to go the extra mile and show their support for the #SexualHealthManifesto by getting a picture with our pledge board. Download our pledge board here and print it out.