Written questions by Mundell.

What plans he has to scale the HIV Confident initiative, to (a) all NHS trusts, (b) care homes, (c) dentists and (d) other health and social care settings.

On World AIDS Day, 1 December 2025, the Department published the new HIV Action Plan, which was developed in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England. The plan is backed by over £170 million in funding and sets out five core priorities needed to reach our ambition to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. One of these priorities is to address stigma and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, highlighting several initiatives health and care organisations can join to tackle stigma and discrimination.This includes HIV Confident, a national initiative led jointly by the National AIDS Trust, aidsmap, Positively UK, and Fast Track Cities, which provides a charter mark for businesses and organisations to ensure that people living with HIV can work for them and access any services they provide with confidence.NHS England also promotes an e-learning module, Tackling HIV Stigma and Discrimination, available via the NHS Learning Hub and Electronic Staff Record, aimed at equipping healthcare professionals to explore and counter stigma and discrimination in clinical settings.Currently, NHS England promotes and funds HIV peer support services in the Blood Borne Virus (BBV) emergency department opt-out testing programme, recognising the role of lived-experience facilitators in reducing isolation and stigma. NHS England is in the process of commissioning new HIV anti‑stigma training as part of delivery of the HIV Action Plan, for trusts participating in the BBV emergency department opt‑out testing programme.The action plan also includes actions for local and regional partners to ensure all health and social care staff have the right knowledge on HIV and can tackle stigma and discrimination. This includes encouraging commissioned services to implement HIV anti-stigma and discrimination training and ensuring staff receive training on HIV awareness, stigma reduction and inclusive care by embedding HIV education into workforce development programmes, safeguarding training, and induction processes.

What plans he has to address the potential impact of HIV stigma on women, particularly Black African women and menopausal women.

On World AIDS Day, 1 December 2025, the Department published the new HIV Action Plan, which was developed in collaboration with UK Health Security Agency and NHS England. The plan is backed by over £170 million in funding and sets out five core priorities needed to reach our ambition to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. One of these priorities is to address stigma and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, including an action to ensure the needs of women living with HIV are considered and addressed in future work, and the role of care for menopausal women living with HIV is included in women’s health hubs best practice.The Department is also investing £4.8 million from 2026 to 2029 in the newly procured National HIV Prevention England Programme, which will be delivered by a consortium of the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Africa Advocacy Foundation. This programme includes an aim to reduce levels of HIV related stigma, particularly self-stigma and stigma within different communities, including Black African women.In high and very high prevalence areas, routine HIV testing is normalised within emergency departments, through the Blood Borne Virus (BBV) emergency department opt-out testing programme. This helps to reduce stigma, avoids singling out individuals, and improves early diagnoses, including among people from Black African heritage who are less likely to access traditional sexual health services.NHS England promotes and funds HIV peer support services in the BBV emergency department opt-out testing programme, recognising the role of lived-experience facilitators in reducing isolation and stigma. Case studies, including for women in their 50s diagnosed via emergency department testing, highlight how peer-led support fosters empowerment and combats stigma-related barriers.

If funding will be allocated to address HIV stigma.

On World AIDS Day, 1 December 2025, the Department published the new HIV Action Plan, which was developed in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England. The plan is backed by over £170 million in funding and sets out five core priorities needed to reach our ambition to end new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmissions within England by 2030. One of these priorities is to address stigma and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, with several actions to achieve this.The Department is investing £4.8 million from 2026 to 2029 in the newly procured National HIV Prevention England Programme, which will be delivered by a consortium of the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Africa Advocacy Foundation. This programme includes an aim to reduce levels of HIV related stigma, particularly self-stigma and stigma within different communities.NHS England is commissioning a new HIV anti-stigma programme to be rolled out across trusts with the emergency department Blood Borne Viruses (BBV) opt-out testing programme, to ensure that staff have the right knowledge on HIV and can tackle stigma and discrimination. Currently, NHS England promotes and funds HIV peer support services in the BBV emergency department opt-out testing programme, recognising the role of lived-experience facilitators in reducing isolation and stigma. Case studies highlight how peer-led support fosters empowerment and combats stigma-related barriers.Local areas will also monitor progress through staff surveys, service user feedback, and quality assurance mechanisms to promote a culture of understanding and respect.

What steps he is taking to address the finding from the Positive Voices 2022 survey.

The Positive Voices survey is used to monitor levels of stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) within the health and social care system. The Positive Voices survey 2022 found that one in 13 people had avoided accessing healthcare services and one in seven had worried about being treated differently to other patients by healthcare staff during the previous year.Therefore, the new HIV Action Plan, developed by the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England, and backed by over £170 million in funding, sets out five core priorities to reach our ambition to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030, including addressing stigma and improving the quality of life for people living with HIV.The Department is investing £4.8 million from 2026 to 2029 in the newly procured National HIV Prevention England Programme, which will aim to reduce levels of HIV related stigma, particularly self-stigma and stigma within different communities. NHS England is commissioning a new HIV anti-stigma programme to be rolled out across trusts with the emergency department Blood Borne Viruses opt-out testing programme, to ensure that staff have the right knowledge on HIV and can tackle stigma and discrimination. Local areas will also monitor progress through staff surveys, service user feedback and quality assurance mechanisms to promote a culture of understanding and respect.

What steps he is taking to raise public awareness of Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U) through the £4.8 million HIV Prevention England programme.

The Department is investing £4.8 million from 2026 to 2029 in the newly procured National HIV Prevention England Programme, which will be delivered by a consortium of the Terrence Higgins Trust and the Africa Advocacy Foundation.One of the key aims of the programme is to improve awareness, knowledge, understanding and uptake of combination HIV prevention interventions, among populations most affected by HIV. This includes using local outreach and partnerships and digital and non-digital health promotion to provide consistent messaging and education to improve awareness and understanding about U=U.

How the £5 million trial of HIV home testing through the NHS App will address the ASSIST study finding that postal testing uptake is higher among White and affluent populations, risking widening inequalities among populations who already experience higher stigma.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) home testing programme has engaged directly with the ASSIST research team to understand the risks of open access, first come first served models. The insights from the ASSIST study are informing thinking not only for HIV testing but for the wider home testing ambition, where effective targeting of key populations will be important across multiple conditions. Recommendations such as invitation‑based approaches and simplified journeys are being considered as part of ongoing service design.The programme is working with local authority commissioners to explore approaches to reaching people who have never tested before. This includes considering how population-level data, such as UK Health Security Agency insights, might inform future targeting without reinforcing stigma.While the NHS App is one access route, the service is being designed with flexibility in mind, including consideration of alternative, non-digital or assisted routes to testing. This reflects evidence from ASSIST on barriers linked to digital access, health literacy, age, and housing circumstances.The programme is working in partnership with commissioners and providers so that it complements, rather than replaces, existing face-to-face services and does not create unmanaged pressure in local systems.

What proportion of the new anti-stigma programmes commissioned across trusts will be delivered in partnership with voluntary and community sector organisations with lived experience expertise, and how this will be monitored.

As part of the blood borne virus (BBV) emergency department opt-out testing programme, NHS England currently promotes and funds HIV peer support services in partnership with voluntary and community sector organisations, recognising the role of lived-experience facilitators in reducing isolation and stigma.NHS England is in the process of commissioning new HIV anti‑stigma training as part of delivery of the HIV Action Plan, for trusts participating in the BBV emergency department opt‑out testing programme. NHS England strongly expects a voluntary and community sector partner with lived experience expertise to lead this work, recognising the critical role such organisations play in tackling stigma and discrimination effectively. Delivery of the programme will be overseen by the national BBV emergency department opt‑out team. Progress will be monitored through quarterly meetings and update reports, aligned to the agreed deliverables, including trust engagement and risk management.

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on departmental responsibility for cannabis-based medicinal products.

The Home Office leads on drug legislation and the Department of Health and Social Care and its Arm’s Length Bodies oversee healthcare and medicine regulation. This regulatory framework applies to all drugs under Schedules 1-5 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, including cannabis-based products for medicinal use.No changes are planned to the current responsibilities. The Government has asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to review the impact of the 2018 change in the law, which enabled the widened use of cannabis-based products for medicines, and will consider the recommendations in the usual way.

What steps he is taking to reduce the transmission of syphilis (a) among high-risk groups and (b) in general.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a sexually transmitted infection (STI) prioritisation framework in 2024 to inform local prioritisation decisions for the control of STIs, including syphilis. The UKHSA’s STI Prioritisation Framework is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sti-prioritisation-frameworkThe UKHSA also previously published a Syphilis Action Plan, which is focused on actions to control and prevent syphilis, which include:increasing the testing frequency of gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men who are at the greatest risk of syphilis, and increasing the re-testing of syphilis cases after treatment;delivering partner notifications to the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV’s standards;maintaining high antenatal screening coverage and vigilance for syphilis throughout antenatal care; andsustaining targeted health promotion.The wider population of heterosexual men and women should be offered a full sexual health screen when clinically appropriate, and especially when attending sexual health services. The UKHSA’s Syphilis Action Plan in available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syphilis-public-health-england-action-plan

What steps he is taking to help reduce syphilis diagnoses among heterosexual populations; and what targeted interventions he is (a) planning and (b) implementing.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published a sexually transmitted infection (STI) prioritisation framework in 2024 to inform local prioritisation decisions for the control of STIs, including syphilis. The UKHSA’s STI Prioritisation Framework is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sti-prioritisation-frameworkThe UKHSA also previously published a Syphilis Action Plan, which is focused on actions to control and prevent syphilis, which include:increasing the testing frequency of gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men who are at the greatest risk of syphilis, and increasing the re-testing of syphilis cases after treatment;delivering partner notifications to the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV’s standards;maintaining high antenatal screening coverage and vigilance for syphilis throughout antenatal care; andsustaining targeted health promotion.The wider population of heterosexual men and women should be offered a full sexual health screen when clinically appropriate, and especially when attending sexual health services. The UKHSA’s Syphilis Action Plan in available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/syphilis-public-health-england-action-plan

What steps he is taking to ensure that antenatal screening for syphilis is (a) effective and (b) accessible to pregnant women.

Syphilis screening is offered to all pregnant women in early pregnancy. The proportion of women taking up the test, known as coverage, has remained high in England for a number of years. The acceptable threshold is 95%, and the achievable threshold is 99%. Coverage has been above the achievable threshold in England since the screening year from 2016 to 2017.This shows that pregnant women are being offered screening for syphilis as part of the NHS Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Screening (IDPS) programme, are accepting the test, and are receiving their screening result. The blood test used for the IDPS programme is generally well-accepted by pregnant women, as seen by the high coverage rates.