Question reference: S6W-01336
- Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 8 July 2021 Registered interest
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 26 July 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to publishing a (a) draft HIV Action Plan and (b) precise and timely consultation timetable before September 2021.
Answer
On 1 December 2020 Joe Fitzpatrick, the then Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing commissioned leading HIV experts to deliver a proposal for how Scotland can become one of the first countries to eliminate HIV transmission by 2030.
This proposal will form the basis for a framework to eliminate HIV by 2030, which was a commitment in the 2021 SNP manifesto. It will contain advice on definitions, targets and monitoring outcomes, as well as ways to ensure capacity to report timely data. It will also consider current HIV epidemiology, detection and testing to find undiagnosed HIV. Interventions designed to prevent HIV transmission through differing routes will be reviewed, most notably through sharing of injecting equipment and sexual transmission. As this is a complex subject, the work to develop the proposal will take place over the remainder of 2021 and will be shaped by a wide variety of stakeholders, including clinicians, third sector organisations and people living with HIV.