Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of National AIDS Trust (NAT), comments on the Equality Act coming into effect on 1 October:

‘As the long awaited Equality Act comes into force today, employers will be required to adhere to new regulations and responsibilities in the field of discrimination.  These changes mark a big step forward for people living with HIV, as many have been subject to HIV-related prejudice and discrimination during the recruitment process.  

New UK report shows one in six people with HIV living in poverty

A new report on Poverty and HIV by NAT (National AIDS Trust) and Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) reveals at least one in six people diagnosed with HIV in the UK experienced severe poverty between 2006 and 2009.  Furthermore, the level of poverty experienced by people living with HIV has dramatically increased over recent years.   In the current climate – and without determined Government action – the poverty crisis for people living with HIV is set to get worse.

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.’

Work Capability Assessment*, the test undertaken to determine whether a person is eligible for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)**, fails to recognise the impact of HIV on ability to work, according to a new research report by NAT (National AIDS Trust).

The National AIDS Trust is calling upon the European Union to provide for the first time explicit protection from discrimination for people living with HIV from the point of diagnosis. The European Commission announced today plans for a new European equality directive. The directive will ban discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, religion and sexual orientation but the current draft does not protect people living with HIV.

NAT has launched a report, ‘The impact of social care support for people living with HIV: the results of NAT’s snapshot survey of healthcare professionals’, which strongly illustrates the continued need for social care support for people with HIV; the positive impact it can have on their lives and the value placed on it by clinicians. The report also details the real concern expressed at increasing difficulty in accessing social care and the loss of trained social workers.

We the undersigned call upon the European Union to provide explicit protection from discrimination for people living with HIV from the point of diagnosis in the proposed Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

New benefits system may mean unfairness and greater poverty for people living with HIV.

Growing number of hetrosexuals acquiring HIV within the UK

The latest figures from the Health Protection Agency reveal that the number of people living with HIV in the UK increased to an estimated 77,400 in 2007, with 7,734 new diagnoses in 2007 alone. Although high, the number of people diagnosed with HIV each year seems to have reached a plateau but this disguises more worrying trends.