Written questions by Eshalomi.

What steps he is taking to improve (a) gender parity, (b) equitable investment and (c) the focus on women for HIV (i) prevention, (ii) research, (iii) data and (iv) services.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone benefits equally from HIV prevention, treatment, and care, and the Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and a broad range of system partners are working together to develop a new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish this year.We know from the UKHSA’s latest data that women are not benefitting equally from the progress made on HIV as other key groups are, and as part of the new HIV Action Plan we are exploring ways to improve this. The plan will be informed by the UKHSA’s annual data, including the monitoring and evaluation report, which sets out key indicators to track progress towards our 2030 ambitions, including by gender. This data also helps system partners to understand where services can be improved and made more accessible to key populations.The Department supports research and development, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which has commissioned research focused on women living with HIV, including the impact of menopause on HIV-positive women's wellbeing and engagement with HIV care, and the intersectional experiences of black women in the digitalisation of sexual and reproductive healthcare, including but not limited to HIV. In addition, the NIHR is funding a £20 million research project to evaluate an expansion of HIV opt-out testing in 47 emergency departments in England where HIV prevalence is high. Emergency department opt-out testing has successfully targeted those who are unlikely to engage with local sexual health services, such as women, and results from the research will be considered in the development of the new plan.There has also been significant progress through the Department’s national HIV Prevention Programme, which supports communities disproportionately affected by HIV, including women, in particular black African and heterosexual women. The programme delivers National HIV Testing Week, aimed at improving testing and increasing awareness of HIV prevention. During 2024 Testing Week, self-testing was particularly popular amongst women, with a nearly 41% increase in total self-testing orders compared with 2023.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the speed of the (a) development and (b) approval of effective HIV vaccines.

The Department is committed to maximising the United Kingdom’s potential to lead the world in clinical research, with the aim of ensuring that all patients, including those with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The Department is working closely with the National Health Service, industry, academia, research regulators and charities to make clinical research in the UK more efficient, more competitive and more accessible. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research and yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the UK, including clinical trials for HIV patients. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is ready to assess any market authorisation applications for HIV vaccines against high standards of quality, safety and efficacy. A standard assessment would take up to 210 days to complete.The MHRA has several routes to support access to innovative medicines for patients with conditions with unmet need. One such route for doing so is the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS), and the entry for the scheme is a Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) Designation. If a PIM Designation was awarded, the application would then continue under the EAMS, where it would be assessed for an EAMS Scientific Opinion, which if awarded would need to be renewed annually. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-the-early-access-to-medicines-scheme-eamsAnother route is the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP), which is focused on getting the most transformative new medicines to patients in the UK health system more quickly. The ILAP is the only end-to-end access pathway in the world where the developer can work collaboratively with the national health system, the regulator, and Health Technology Assessment bodies. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/innovative-licensing-and-access-pathway-ilap

What funding and resources are being allocated to support ongoing clinical trials and research for HIV vaccines within the UK.

The Department funds research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds clinical research into HIV as well as vaccine development, however, it is not currently funding any trials on HIV vaccines. The NIHR welcomes research proposals on candidates that are ready to be trialled in humans.

What steps he is taking to help reduce the number of HIV transmissions to zero by 2030.

I would like to congratulate my Honourable Friend for her re-election and for her valuable work as Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV, AIDS and Sexual Health in the last parliament, as well as her advocacy on HIV, particularly for the Black community in South London. HIV is a priority for the government and, as set out in our manifesto, we will commission a new plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030.