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321WH<br />
HIV<br />
1 DECEMBER 2010<br />
HIV<br />
322WH<br />
that document. I know that Members will look at that<br />
document with care and feed back to us their feelings<br />
on it. In the spring, we will publish a position paper on<br />
sexual health which will, of course, include HIV. That<br />
paper will take into account many of the issues that<br />
have emerged this afternoon.<br />
David Cairns: I will let the Minister catch her breath<br />
and I appreciate that we are really up against the clock.<br />
She says that t<strong>here</strong> will be a position paper in the spring.<br />
Does she envisage that that will lead to a full new HIV<br />
strategy, or will it just remain a position paper?<br />
Anne Milton: No, it will be a sexual health strategy.<br />
The Government and the NHS need to play their part,<br />
and we need to support individuals to make responsible<br />
lifestyle choices. We continue to provide the very best<br />
HIV treatment services, but others have a role to play<br />
and they are often better placed than the Government<br />
to make a difference. The hon. Member for Hackney<br />
North and Stoke Newington mentioned the role of<br />
churches in that regard and they can have a significant<br />
impact.<br />
Voluntary community groups, industry, responsible<br />
media, churches and faith groups all have a part to play.<br />
That collaboration is so important in tackling stigma<br />
and discrimination, which is still a very real issue for<br />
many people affected by HIV. That is particularly important<br />
within those communities who find sexual health issues<br />
more challenging than other communities.<br />
Stigma means that people refuse tests, do not take<br />
precautions and do not go for treatment. I was delighted<br />
to see that the Prime Minister highlighted the issue of<br />
stigma in his world AIDS day podcast. Tackling HIV is<br />
everyone’s business and we can all make a difference to<br />
reduce stigma, reduce new infections and enable people<br />
living with HIV to lead full and productive lives.<br />
The hon. Member for Inverclyde raised issues about<br />
global funds. I am sure that he will also raise those<br />
issues with my colleagues in the Department for<br />
International Development. However, as my ministerial<br />
brief also covers EU health, it may be of note for him to<br />
realise that such issues are recognised by many people<br />
within Europe and across the world, and we continue to<br />
work both nationally—within our own member states—and<br />
internationally, because collectively we can do a great<br />
deal to help each other.<br />
The hon. Gentleman also said that generally a onesize-fits-all<br />
approach does not work and, as my hon.<br />
Friend the Member for Hove said, anonymous testing<br />
and treatment is often crucial. We will announce our<br />
commissioning intentions soon. However, the hon.<br />
Gentleman’s point is well made.<br />
I think that it was the hon. Member for Dumfries and<br />
Galloway (Mr Brown) who mentioned the issue of<br />
commissioning services in rural areas, which poses particular<br />
challenges and very real problems. It is absolutely crucial<br />
that we get that commissioning right. We will announce<br />
our intentions soon and I hope that they will address<br />
some of the points that he raised.<br />
We need to talk about sex. We need to talk about<br />
people’s sexual health. We need to talk about people’s<br />
responsibilities in looking after their sexual health, and<br />
we all have something to offer and we all have something<br />
that we can do personally, particularly those of us<br />
who are Members of <strong>Parliament</strong>. As MPs, we have<br />
unprecedented access to media, particularly in our local<br />
areas. We need to do everything that we can to express<br />
the fact that this is everybody’s business and that people<br />
need to take responsibility for their sexual health. Their<br />
sexual health not only affects them; it affects the others<br />
around them and their families too. Only then will we<br />
be able to see a future for people living with HIV/AIDS<br />
that we all want to see.