This page shows the Early Day Motions where the main subject matter was HIV/AIDS from the Parliamentary session which began in May 2005 after the General Election and ended in November 2006.

EDM 2195 

HIV AND PREGNANT WOMEN       (17/05/2006)

Paul Burstow

That this House notes with concern that not all HIV positive women in the UK are entitled to free treatment to prevent mother to baby transmission of HIV; recognises that guidance from the Department of Health clearly states that because of the risks to both mother and baby, maternity services should always be considered to be immediately necessary and never withheld; further recognises that many women who need treatment are not aware of their entitlement and that fears about the cost of treatment mean that some do not come forward or come forward too late for the treatment to be fully effective; acknowledges that there is also continuing widespread confusion within the NHS about what treatment women are entitled to; and calls on the Government to amend the 1989 Charges to Overseas Visitors Regulations to include HIV treatment alongside all other sexually transmitted infections which are currently exempt from charges, to ensure all women are given free HIV treatment to maintain their health and enable them to survive to care for their child, regardless of their immigration status.

EDM 2159 

WORLD AIDS VACCINE DAY       (12/05/2006)

Lynne Jones

That this House notes that 18th May is World AIDS Vaccines Day, giving an opportunity to observe the urgent need for a vaccine that prevents HIV infection and AIDS; acknowledges that over 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV and that almost five millon new infections have occurred in the last year with developing countries disproportionately affected; recognises that existing HIV prevention methods help to reduce the risk of HIV transmission and should urgently be made available to all who need them, but that in the long-term a vaccine offers the best hope of stopping the continuing spread of HIV; further acknowledges that progress has been made in the search for a preventative HIV vaccine, with vaccine trials in progress in countries on every continent, but that major challenges remain; welcomes the UK's contribution to HIV vaccine research and development; and calls upon the Government to use its influence to urge the international community to recognise the importance of investing in new technologies as a critical element of the comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS.

EDM 1891

WORLD TB DAY AND THE GLOBAL PLAN TO STOP TB CAMPAIGN       (23/03/2006)

John Barrett 

That this House acknowledges in the run up to World TB day that each year nearly two million people die and nine million become sick with TB despite the disease being both preventable and curable; recognises that TB is a global pandemic and an emergency in Africa and Eastern Europe; further notes that TB is the biggest killer of people with HIV/AIDS; welcomes the launch of the Global Plan to Stop TB 2006 to 2015 which if implemented will lead to 14 million more lives being saved over the next decade and Millennium Development Goal targets on TB being met; and calls upon the UK Government to contribute to the development and financing of the Global Plan.

EDM 1633

HIV TREATMENT AND NHS PRESCRIPTION CHARGES       (13/02/2006)

Paul Burstow

That this House notes that the regulations specifying conditions which qualify for prescription charge exemptions have not changed since 1968, and remain a significant barrier to the health care and quality of life of patients living with HIV; recognises that living with HIV, an infection first diagnosed 14 years after this legislation was introduced, can cause considerable physical and financial hardship; and calls on the Government to fulfil the commitment it made whilst in Opposition finally to review the list of conditions currently exempt from prescription charges with a view to adding HIV to the list.

EDM 1542

LEGAL SERVICE COMMISSION'S DECISION TO END FUNDING FOR SPECIALIST SUPPORT IN ENGLAND AND WALES       (31/01/2006)

Julie Morgan

That this House condemns the Legal Service Commission's (LSC) recent decision to end all funding of specialist support services in England and Wales from July 2006 despite the outcome of its own review in 2003-04 which recognised the value and importance of specialist support advice, mentoring and training in complex areas of social welfare law for LSC approved agencies working directly with the public; notes that this will mean, in Wales, the end of the Wales Specialist Support Service, which provides expert help and training in housing, welfare benefits and debt, and across England and Wales, the loss of essential advice and training in mental health, community care, employment, HIV/AIDS, immigration and human rights, as well as housing, welfare benefits and debt, provided by acknowledged expert agencies such as the Child Poverty Action Group, Disability Law Service, Citizens Advice, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, Liberty, MIND, Shelter, Terrence Higgins Trust and others; further regrets the implications of this cut in funding for vulnerable clients who are not in a position to employ specialist advisers; and calls on the Government to restore funding for specialist support and to strengthen the provision of legal advice for those in the greatest need.

EDM 1443 

GLOBAL AIDS TARGETS       (23/01/2006)

Jeremy Hunt

That this House strongly welcomes the target to provide universal access to anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS sufferers by 2010 as an invaluable contribution to economic growth and poverty reduction in the world's poorest countries; notes that the UK Department for International Development is co-chairing the UN steering group with responsibility for the 2010 target; believes that any strategy to promote the availability of HIV/AIDS treatment drugs must go together with an increased emphasis on preventing the spread of the disease; and strongly urges the Government to secure the agreement of the international community for interim targets to be put in place and published which commit the UK and other G8 nations to concrete and measurable milestones between now and 2010 to ensure that the universal access target is met.

EDM 1407

ANTI-RETROVIRAL THERAPIES FOR HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN       (18/01/2006)

Sally Keeble

That this House welcomes the £150 million funding provided by the Government for orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS; notes with concern the acute shortage of anti-retroviral (ARV) combination therapies for HIV positive children and the lack of paediatric diagnostics; and calls on the Government to support the establishment of a £200 million international fund to develop new diagnostic methods and ARV therapies for children.

EDM 1133

TREAT WITH RESPECT NETWORK       (29/11/2005)

Neil Gerrard

That this House notes with concern that the number of people worldwide living with HIV has surpassed 40 million, of whom 58,000 are people resident in the UK; welcomes the Government's support for the G8 target of universal access to treatment by 2010 but regrets that some people in the UK will still be denied treatment; is aware that there is high co-morbidity between HIV and tuberculosis and is dismayed that, unlike tuberculosis, HIV will not be universally treated; believes that the issue of health tourism has been exaggerated; welcomes the creation of the Treat with Respect Network advocating equitable access to free high quality HIV treatment and care, including effective HIV prevention and early diagnosis to all those living in the UK; and calls for the reclassification of HIV as a sexually transmitted disease to ensure that all those infected with HIV in the UK are eligible for treatment by the NHS without charge.

EDM 1129

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 2005      (28/11/2005)

Neil Gerrard

That this House welcomes the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, including the extension of the definition of disability to include people living with HIV, multiple sclerosis, and cancer from the point of diagnosis; supports the efforts of the voluntary sector in publicising the changes; notes that prejudice and discrimination continue to affect people living with these conditions both in the workplace and in the wider community; and urges the Government to do all it can to ensure that employers, trade unions and providers of services are aware of the protection afforded to people with these conditions by the Act.

EDM 1128

ACCESS TO HIV PREVENTION, TREATMENT AND SUPPORT      (28/11/2005)

Laura Moffatt

That this House is concerned that 40.3 million people worldwide are living with HIV and that 4.9 million new infections have occurred in the last year; acknowledges the progress and commitments made on access to HIV prevention, treatment and support during the UK's presidencies of the G8 and European Union in 2005; welcomes the EU Statement on Prevention as a sign of commitment to the comprehensive approach required to tackle HIV and AIDS; and looks forward to the UK Government showing leadership and using its influence in 2006 in order to continue to promote action to secure universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, and to tackle stigma and discrimination.

EDM 1091

PROGRESS REPORT ON UN DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT ON HIV/AIDS      (22/11/2005)

Neil Gerrard

That this House notes that in 2003 the United Kingdom did not submit, as required, a progress report on its compliance with the UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS adopted in June 2001 by all UN Member States as a commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS within their own countries and which sets out targets on key HIV-related issues, including prevention, treatment, and human rights, to be assessed periodically; further notes that all countries are required to submit another progress report at the review of the UN Declaration of Commitment in 2006; further notes that the Department of Health is responsible for drafting and submitting the progress report; and calls on the Government to submit a progress report as required and to make the report a public document.

EDM 1025

TUBERCULOSIS EMERGENCY AND HIV/AIDS      (15/11/2005)

Nick Herbert

That this House acknowledges the continent-wide tuberculosis (TB) emergency recently declared by African Ministers of Health; notes with concern that TB kills two million people worldwide each year, that an estimated one third of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS are co-infected with TB and that TB is the leading killer of people living with HIV/AIDS; further notes with concern that the World Health Organisation's `3 by 5' initiative to provide three million people living with HIV/AIDS with life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs by 2005 is unlikely to be met; recognises that TB treatment is one of the most effective ways of extending the life of a dually infected person until antiretroviral drugs become universally available; believes that global efforts to tackle TB and HIV should be fully co-ordinated in order to control the rise of TB among HIV-infected people and to identify more patients in need of antiretroviral treatment; recognises that the theme of this year's World AIDS Day is `keep the promise'; and urges the Government to pledge its share for collaborative TB/HIV programmes as recommended in the Commission for Africa Report.

EDM 892

FINAL BROADCAST OF WESTWAY PROGRAMME ON BBC WORLD SERVICE      (28/10/2005)

Ann Keen

That this House regrets that Westway, the BBC World Service radio soap, had its final broadcast on the World Service on 29th October; notes that this programme has been going out on that service twice a week since 1997, and has an audience estimated at between three and 20 million around the world; further notes that it was set in a West London medical centre and tackled issues such as a Muslim girl bullied at school for wearing a headscarf and an immigrant doctor who discovers she is HIV positive, tackled health issues of the day and broadcast the virtues of UK multiculturalism to the world; believes that it has been a great tool for the UK and a lifeline for many young people where such issues in their own countries are not tackled and that such programmes can be much more effective than a dry news programme in getting a message across; congratulates the actors, writers and technicians who contributed to this series over those eight years; and further regrets that the BBC has taken the decision to cut this example of realistic drama and multiculturalism which was popular with its listeners at a time when the BBC has said that it wants more of both on its channels.

EDM 687

SUPERDRUG SEX TAX CAMPAIGN      (10/10/2005)

Lynne Jones

That this House supports Superdrug's campaign for the reduction of VAT on condoms; notes that thousands of employees and customers have signed the store's `sex tax' petition supporting the Company's call that condoms should be classed as an essential health item and not a luxury item; commends Superdrug for permanently cutting the VAT from its own brand condoms in May; notes that over £7 million is currently paid in VAT on condoms each year whilst, according to the Independent Advisory Group for Sexual Health and HIV report, the use of condoms saves an estimated £2.5 billion a year through the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies; is concerned that reported cases of HIV are on the increase and that Britain has the highest incidence of teenage pregnancies in Europe; believes that the use of condoms is the best way to cut both these worrying statistics and that a reduction in VAT would help promote their use; recognises that due to its position as an EU member state, the UK cannot entirely remove VAT on condoms but can reduce it to five per cent.; and therefore calls upon the UK Government to make this reduction without delay.

EDM 646

PROVISION OF SCANNERS IN THE NHS      (20/07/05)

George Mudie

That this House believes that the Department of Health should announce the roll-out of a national programme of PET and CT scanners to assist in the diagnosis and detection of cancer and cardiac and neurological conditions, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy and HIV/AIDS; and further believes that the United Kingdom should meet levels of provision already being planned for in other member states of the European Union.

EDM 345

UNIVERSAL TREATMENT ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS        (16/06/05)

Neil Gerrard

That this House welcomes the public recognition by G8 Finance Ministers that `tackling diseases that undermine growth and exacerbate poverty in developing countries will require not only strengthened health systems, but also improved treatment, including universal access for AIDS treatment by 2010'; notes that a target without the necessary resources will not be realised; and calls upon the Government to do all it can to ensure that the G8 countries provide sufficient additional money to fund universal access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world.

EDM 294

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS        (09/06/05)

Chris McCafferty

That this House is appalled that every year over 500,000 women, living in developing countries, die in pregnancy or childbirth as a result of preventable causes and that millions more suffer ill health and disability; acknowledges that at least three quarters of global HIV infections are sexually transmitted and that women of reproductive age are most at risk; recognises that the implementation of the millennium development goals (MDGs) is necessary to reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS and promote gender equality; further acknowledges the importance of sexual and reproductive health for achieving all the MDGs, as recognised by the UN Secretary General, the UN Millennium Project, the EU, Commission for Africa, national governments, and international agencies and bodies including the WHO, UNFPA and UNAIDS; welcomes the strong stance on sexual and reproductive health taken by the Department for International Development; and urges that the UK Statement at the Millennium Review Summit emphasises the centrality of sexual and reproductive health towards achieving the MDGs.

EDM 243

DISABILITY RIGHTS COMMISSION'S EMPLOYMENT CAMPAIGN         (06/06/05)

Roger Berry

That this House welcomes the Disability Rights Commission's campaign to keep disabled people in work, including those with long-term health conditions like cancer, HIV/AIDS, depression, diabetes and heart disease; notes that 3.4 million disabled people are already in work, with over half a million of them contributing to the UK's smallest businesses, and that a further million disabled people say that they want to work; believes the Department for Work and Pensions' Five Year Strategy for welfare reform represents a valuable opportunity to support more disabled people into employment; and urges the Government to publicise the Access to Work scheme to small employers, as the most recent research reveals that only 18 per cent. of small employers know about it.

EDM 196

LINKING SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS           (24/05/05)

Chris McCafferty

That this House welcomes the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health's Report, `Linking Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS'; notes that stronger linkages between sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS are needed in order to combat HIV/AIDS and to improve maternal and child health; and recognises that taking action on one will also help to tackle the other.

Parliament Page                Home Page