Nearly half the British public don’t always use a condom with a new sexual partner

The National AIDS Trust is calling for a ‘new culture of condom use’ in the UK after survey results revealed that nearly half, or 49 percent of the British public do not always use a condom with a new sexual partner.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos Mori for the National AIDS Trust, showed that 53 percent of participants who have had a new sexual partner within the last two years put themselves at risk of sexually transmitted infections when they stopped using condoms in a relationship.

24 percent of participants who had a new sexual partner within the last two years would only stop using a condom once they and their partner had both been tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Only 7 percent of participants said they would always use a condom.

Large gaps in knowledge of the importance of condoms in preventing HIV transmission during sex were also shown. One in five people could not identify that HIV can be transmitted between a man and a woman who don’t use a condom, and over a quarter were not aware that HIV can be transmitted between two men who don’t use a condom.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, said. “In National Condom Week the British public need a wake-up call on condom use. Too many people don’t know the basic facts on how condoms prevent a sexually transmitted infection such as HIV.”

The National AIDS Trust is calling on the Government to introduce condom use as an essential part of comprehensive, compulsory sex and relationships education in all schools. It is also calling for condom advertising on TV and radio before the 9 o’clock watershed.

AVERT has more information on HIV and AIDS in the UK.

(National AIDS Trust, 12/05/08).

Closure of Vital HIV Service in Brighton

Open Door, an HIV drop in centre in Brighton UK, is set to close after the Diocese of Chichester has withdrawn all funding for the project.

Open Door provides a wide range of services within a supportive and confidential setting to people in the Brighton and Hove area who are affected by HIV/AIDS. The closing of Open Door will have a major impact on the community of Brighton and the care and support structure for HIV as a whole for that area.

The decision to close came after it was decided by the Diocese of Chichester that a service such as Open Door was less viable than it used to be. Reverend Barry North from the Diocese said that although the decision to close was very regrettable, regular support such as that provided by Open Door was no longer needed. Instead “specific services that could be accessed when needed” were the way forward as the nature of living with HIV had changed since when Open Door was first set up in 1990. This, he said, was due to improvements in HIV treatments whereby being HIV-positive had become more about living with a long-term manageable condition.

The closure has not been without its critics however, with many believing the withdrawal of funds to be wrong and a disaster for anyone who used the service. A needs survey among the HIV population of Sussex, with a view to identifying those services that are still required, will be conducted by Open Door so that they can be highlighted and addressed by other agencies.

Brighton has one of the highest prevalences of HIV in the UK with London being the highest.

For other support groups and sources of advice have a look at AVERT's UK community organisations page.

(The Argus, 17th April 2008)

Leading scientists question whether vaccine for AIDS will ever be found

A poll conducted by UK newspaper The Independent has found that over 80% of leading scientists involved in AIDS research believe that the possibility of finding a vaccine against HIV is looking increasingly bleak.

The poll conducted by the paper questioned scientists in the wake of the failed Merck drug trials and found them to be pessimistic about the possibility of an AIDS vaccine ever being developed.

A promising prototype vaccine, developed by the drug company Merck, failed in clinical trials at the end of last year causing great upset. Leading vaccine researcher Dr. Gary Nabel has described the results of the Merck vaccine trial as “a big blow to the field”.

Some people in the scientific community and a few AIDS pressure groups believe that this most recent failure is evidence that large funds already put into HIV research should now be diverted to other forms of AIDS prevention.

However, Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an organisation that spends about $ 500m (£250m) on HIV vaccine research each year, maintained that this was not the time to stop vaccine research.

Fauci believes that there is still much more to be done and many more questions to answer. He thinks that the distribution of funds needs to change and there should now be a shift from clinical trials, which are extremely expensive, to a more fundamental approach into the understanding of the basic biological structure of the very elusive virus.

He does not think that spending money on vaccine research neglects other areas of prevention, and argues that both should be done simultaneously.

Nearly two thirds of the top scientists polled by The Independent believe an HIV vaccine will not be developed within the next 10 years and that there needs to be a refocusing in the direction of research.

Despite pessimism of finding a vaccine in the near future, most scientists still believe that a vaccine would be the most effective way of preventing the spread of HIV.

For more information have a look at AVERTs pages on HIV vaccines and money to fight AIDS.

(The Independent, 24th April 2008)

High Court rules that ban on free NHS treatment for Asylum Seekers is unlawful

A High Court Judge has ruled that the ban on free NHS health care for all failed asylum seekers in the UK is unlawful.

Government policy previously stated that all those who had been denied asylum in the UK but could not return home due to travel restrictions were not entitled to free NHS care.

Whilst asylum seekers are allowed accommodation and a small amount of benefit, they could not be treated in an NHS hospital unless they turned up in the Accident and Emergency department. Even if they were to do this, they could not be treated for HIV.

The ban came to the attention of the High Court after a Palestinian man, unable to travel back to Palestine, had been denied treatment for liver disease and possible lymphatic cancer.
The man claimed the policy, which would allow him access to only GP and emergency care, breached his human rights with his lawyers arguing that the government could not deny treatment to somebody who is legally resident in the UK.

The landmark decision could apply to anywhere between 200,000 and a million people, with 11,000 of those being asylum seekers who have been refused refugee status but have no safe route home.

It remains to be seen whether the government will accept the decision or challenge it, with the Department of Health being given permission by the High Court to appeal directly to the House of Lords.

Critics of the policy, introduced by the government in the wake of allegations that people were coming to the UK for free medical care, welcomed the ruling, especially in the cases of HIV.
If treatment is allowed for those who suffer from HIV then it reduces the chances of the virus being passed on, thus having a positive effect on the health of the public as a whole.

For more information have a look at AVERTs treatment and UK pages.

(guardian.co.uk, 12/04/08)

PEFAR receives overwhelming support for its reauthorisation

The House of Representatives passed a Bill on Wednesday that would see a vast increase in the money spent on the fight against AIDS in Africa and other parts of the world.

The legislation authorises $ 50billion in funding for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs over the next five years. The Democratic-led House boosted the initial $ 30billion, proposed by President Bush, up to $ 50billion for the next five years.

In a bipartisan agreement the House voted overwhelmingly to expand U.S efforts to combat the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. The move renews the initiative of PEPFAR (the Presidents Emergency Program for AIDS Relief) the proposed mandate put forward by President George Bush five years ago and now sees it moving beyond the “emergency” stage and into programs that are now able to be fully supported and sustained over a longer period of time.

The reauthorisation is a direct result of the success of the initiative which has, in the past five years, provided life saving drugs to nearly 1.5 million people around the world, supported care for nearly 7 million people, including 2.7 million orphans and vulnerable children and prevented an estimated 150,000 infant infections.

The significance of the 2003 legislation means that PEPFAR is now firmly established as one of the leading providers in the world of HIV/AIDS assistance for prevention, treatment and care.
The new legislation also sees the over turning of the controversial and ineffective one third abstinence only requirement that applied to global funding of HIV/AIDS prevention previously and was included in the initial 2003 law.

With the 2003 launch supporting 15 programs worldwide, 12 African countries plus Vietnam, Guyana and Haiti, the new bill will add a further 14 countries, the majority being in the Caribbean but with 3 more in Africa.

As well as the proven success of the initiative, the reauthorization also owes thanks to the significant majority of Democrats now occupying the House of Representatives. The reauthorisation was approved with 306 to 116 votes, all 116 opponents of its reauthorisation being Republican.

The Senate will now look at a similar bill and once both the Senate and the House of Representatives are agreed, a final bill will be passed onto the President for final approval.
With President Bush now looking to the success of PEPFAR as his legacy in a presidency dominated by the unpopular Iraq war, it is generally thought that the bill will be approved.

For more information have a look at AVERTs pages on PEPFAR and the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS.

New figures show rise in HIV diagnoses amongst gay men in UK

Levels of HIV diagnoses amongst gay men in the UK have continued to rise for the third successive year a 2007 Health Protection Agency report shows.

Figures released by the HPA show that diagnoses of HIV among gay men in Britain have risen above 2,600, the third year in a row rates have been this high since records began.
Over a third of new diagnoses in 2007 were from gay men with 2,630 of the 6,840 estimated cases being amongst this group.

There are a number of factors contributing to the high levels of new HIV diagnoses amongst gay men. As well as an increase in HIV testing adding to the high figures there are also factors such as migration and the continuing evidence of ongoing transmission of HIV among gay men.

Unprotected sex continues to be a very high risk activity for gay men with the report highlighting the continuing need to reinforce the safe sex message to this group who are most at risk.

Along with this is the need for regular testing also. Professor Peter Borriello, Director of the Health Protection Agency’s Centre for Infections recommends that gay men should test annually for HIV saying “earlier diagnoses of HIV infection will give men access to treatment, improve their survival and reduce the risk of transmission to partners. I urge all gay men to test for HIV regularly”.

While estimates for HIV diagnoses in 2007 were slightly lower than those for 2006 there is no suggestion that the overall level of HIV transmission in gay men has fallen.

For more information look at AVERTs pages on ‘young gay men, HIV and AIDS’ and ‘transmission and testing’.

There is also other relevant information on AVERTs 'HIV/AIDS in the UK' pages.

(HPA Press release, 28/03/08)

Crown Prosecution Service guidelines make it harder to prosecute reckless HIV transmission

The UK Crown Prosecution Service has released updated guidelines for cases involving the intentional or reckless sexual transmission of HIV.

The crimes of intentional and reckless HIV transmission are covered by the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, and the new guidance is intended to end confusion for police, prosecutors and people living with HIV regarding the application of the law.

Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald QC, said: "Although these types of cases are rare, we are publishing this statement because we recognise the importance of consistent decision-making. We hope that it provides clarity.”

It will now be more difficult to convict people of reckless sexual HIV transmission, as the guidance associates reckless behaviour with “a sustained course of conduct during which the defendant ignores current scientific advice regarding the use of safeguards”. This implies that a single act of unprotected sex is not enough to be considered reckless behaviour.

Reckless HIV transmission is only punishable in court if HIV was actually passed on. This contrasts with other parts of the world, such as Wisconsin, USA where a man was this week sentenced to 15 years in prison for exposing his lover to HIV, even though she did not become infected.

Furthermore, the defendant must have been aware of their HIV positive status and have understood they were infectious, and the complainant must not have known the HIV status of the defendant. The transmission is only reckless if the defendant did not take steps to protect their partner from infection.

The clarification in the law marks a step towards recognising that both partners are responsible for practising safer sex, and shows awareness of the need to encourage HIV testing rather than punishing those who pass on HIV.

To date 11 cases of reckless HIV transmission have been brought to court in the UK.

AVERT has more information about the criminal transmission of HIV.

(Crown Prosecution Service, The Journal Times, 18/03/08) 

Prince Harry 'disappointed' by fraction of charity funds given to AIDS orphans

Sentebale, the charity set up by Prince Harry to support AIDS orphans in Lesotho, has given only a tiny fraction of the money it has raised to the projects it was intended to help.

According to a senior aide, Harry is “bitterly disappointed” by account figures filed with the Charity Commission showing that only £84,000 of the £1.15 million received in donations has so far gone to AIDS orphans.

Among other payments, £250,000 has been spent on staffing costs, with a single unidentified member of the charity's staff being paid £100,000. £46,909 went to the offices of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, in what were described as "recharged payments."

Some £86,000 was spent on setting up a website and "developing the charity's ability to raise funds and awareness." Vehicles accounted for £49,000 and £26,000 went on fixtures, fittings and equipment.

According to AVERT’s Chief Executive, Prince Harry is quite justified in being disappointed as to how money has been spent. “AVERT would urge him to now take action to ensure that money is spent more effectively in future. It can reflect badly on the actions of others if matters such as this are not resolved”.

AVERT has years of experience of funding HIV and AIDS projects in Africa and India. As our very small administration costs are already met, we give all donations received directly to the projects that need funds most.

Read more about AIDS in Lesotho.

(The Daily Telegraph, 17/03/08, The Charity Commission)

Tragic story of British man born with HIV

An inquest has found that a 21-year-old man who had been born with HIV had killed himself after, it was thought, he could no longer carry on living with HIV. The man had jumped to his death off Beachy Head in Sussex last October.

The man, who lived in Sussex, was infected at birth and his parents were told at the time that because of being born with HIV there was a very strong chance that he might only live until 10 years of age. His parents decided not to tell him of the infection, but by the time he was 11 his mother finally succumbed to an AIDS related illness and died.

It was when he was 13, an age he was only able to reach due to an improvement in available medication, that he was told of his infection by his father.

He had threatened to take his life on previous occasions and although the issues surrounding the cause of this may have been linked to drug use and problems with his girlfriend, a close friend was quoted as saying “ It was because he was unwell, that was the reason”.

Although there have been improved interventions that can reduce the likelihood of HIV transmission in recent years, around the world there are still more than 350,000 children becoming infected with HIV at birth every year.

AVERT’s ‘Stop AIDS In Children Campaign’ highlights the problems faced by children and young people born with HIV and shows that the transmission of HIV from mother to child can be prevented.

For more information see AVERT’s HIV statistics for women and children in the UK.

You can also join the campaign at 'Stop AIDS in Children'.

(The Argus Newspaper 07/03/08)

Study finds that 1 in 5 people in the UK cannot identify how HIV is transmitted

A UK survey of peoples’ attitudes to and knowledge of HIV conducted by the National AIDS Trust has found “serious gaps” in people’s knowledge about HIV.

The study found that over 90 percent of the British public did not fully understand the ways that HIV is transmitted, and that since the year 2000, levels of understanding about HIV transmission in the UK have fallen significantly. Scotland and London are reportedly among the least knowledgeable about HIV.

For example, 9 percent of people could not identify unprotected sex between a man and a woman as a way of transmitting HIV in 2000. By 2007 the number who could not correctly identify this as an HIV transmission route had risen to over a fifth of participants, or 21 percent. 12 percent of the 2000 participants did not know that unprotected sex between two men is a way of transmitting HIV, and by 2007 over a quarter of British people, or 26 percent, were not aware of this fact.

In 2007, 31 per cent of people did not state that sharing a syringe when injecting drugs carries a risk of HIV, which has risen from 12 per cent in the 2000 survey. Five per cent of people wrongly believe you can pass on HIV through spitting.

Encouragingly, the number of people who would only stop using condoms in a relationship ‘once we’ve both been tested for sexually transmitted infections and HIV’, increased from 12 percent in 2005 to 24 percent in 2007, which suggests that recent sexual health campaigns have had some impact. However 24 percent state they do not use a condom with a new sexual partner as a matter of course, suggesting that the UK still has a long way to go in persuading people to look after their own sexual health.

Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, says;

“We cannot afford to be complacent about HIV education. Ignorance about HIV increases vulnerability to infection and also contributes to stigma and discrimination. The Government must re-invest in educating the public about HIV.”

Read more information about HIV and AIDS in the UK.

(NAT press release 17/01/08 & BBC News, 17/01/08)

Atripla approved for use in Europe

A three-in-one antiretroviral tablet has been approved for use by people living with HIV in Europe for the first time.  Atripla combines the products of three separate pharmaceutical companies into a single pill that only needs to be taken once a day.  Currently, Europeans taking the common antiretroviral combination of efavirenz, tenofovir and emtricitabine have to take at least two tablets at different times of the day.

The pill was first licensed in the USA in July 2006 following an unprecedented collaboration between three rival drug companies - Gilead Sciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck.  It is now taken by about half of people beginning antiretroviral treatment for the first time in the US.

It is hoped that the pill will have similar success in Europe, although in the UK it still has to be approved by the National Health Service before it can be offered to people living with HIV.

There has been a huge amount of manufacturing work to bring this drug to the market,” said Gilead senior vice-president Paul Carter.

"Trying to get three drugs into one pill isn't a straightforward procedure.  But nevertheless we anticipate that across Europe, Atripla will be available at a price which is in parity with the sum of its component parts."

Work is also underway to provide the drug at a lower price to developing countries, where simple, inexpensive AIDS treatment is desperately needed.

Lisa Power, of the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "Most people have trouble with a week's worth of antibiotics - imagine taking them for life.”

"So combining an already widely used combination of treatments into one pill, once a day will help many people with HIV maintain a normal life at work and home."

(BBC.co.uk, 17/12/07)

New STI statistics for UK show rise in people living with HIV

The UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) has estimated that there are now around 73,000 adults living with HIV in the UK, up from approximately 63,500 last year.

According to the 2007 edition of the Health Protection Agency’s annual report on HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infetions (STIs), 7,093 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK in 2006, though this figure is likely to rise to around 7,800 once all reports have been received.  This estimate is slightly lower than the 7,900 new diagnoses made in 2005, suggesting that the infection rate in the UK has stabilised, and may possibly be declining slightly.

Dr Valerie Delpech , Head of HIV surveillance at the Agency said that HIV remained a serious problem in the UK, with around 21,600 people with HIV remaining unaware that they are infected. Gay men are thought to be particularly at risk.

“We are still seeing high levels of HIV transmission in gay men in whom we anticipate that there will have been just over 2,700 new diagnoses of HIV infection in 2006,” she said.  

“In recent years we have seen steady increases in all sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV, in gay men and since 2003, the number of HIV diagnoses reported annually has consistently increased and exceeded the annual number of diagnoses throughout the 1980s and 1990s.”

The sexual health of young adults also worsened in 2006 according to the report, with increases in genital herpes, genital warts and chlamydia. Around one in ten young adults screened through the new National Chlamydia Screening Programme in 2006 tested positive for the infection, and it remains the most commonly diagnosed STI in UK genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics.

Professor Pete Borriello, Director of the HPA's Centre for Infections, said “We need to reinforce the safe sex message for gay men, young adults and the broader community. The best way to protect yourself from contracting an STI including HIV is by practising safer sex by using a condom with all new and casual partners. Any person who believes they may be at risk or has symptoms suggestive of a sexually transmitted infection should consult their doctor or attend a clinic. The sooner HIV and other STIs are diagnosed and treated, the less likely it is they will be passed on.”

(HPA report, 23/1107)

BBC uncovers worrying levels of ignorance about HIV in UK youth

A survey conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has found a worrying level of ignorance and complacency about HIV among young people in the UK.

The survey of 1,500 people aged 16 to 64 was conducted online in May of this year. Of particular interest to the BBC were the answers given by young people, many of whom missed out on the major ‘Don’t Die Of Ignorance’ campaign that raised awareness on AIDS in the 1980s. The survey found that among 16 to 24 year old, nine out of ten rarely or never thought about HIV when making decisions about their sex lives. Seventy-four percent demonstrated incorrect knowledge about HIV when asked, with 55% thinking HIV could be spread through kissing, and just under half believing that you could get HIV from a toilet seat. Yet many didn’t realise their own level of ignorance about the disease – just 26% of the young people surveyed said they did not feel sufficiently informed about the transmission and prevention of HIV.

While online surveys can sometimes be unreliable (there is no way of ensuring that people give true rather than ‘joke’ answers for example), if accurate, the results of the BBC survey paint an exceedingly worrying picture of the quality of information that young people are receiving about HIV. They also show a marked increase in ignorance on previous surveys carried out by the National AIDS Trust. A 2006 poll of 2048 people of all ages conducted by NAT found that only 4% of respondents thought HIV could be transmitted via kissing and only 2% thought that toilet seats posed a risk.

The survey results coincide with the launch of a new BBC campaign to raise awareness of HIV among young people. The two month campaign, developed by BBC Learning in partnership with the AIDS organisation THT, is designed to address HIV ignorance through a series of TV and radio programmes, and a fun, interactive website where users can create their own virtual action figure called ‘GI Jonny’.

"Levels of ignorance about HIV are at an all-time high among the age group most likely to catch a sexually transmitted infection,” Elizabeth McKay, Project Executive at BBC Learning explained. “Young people told us they needed practical information about HIV that they could share with mates. GI Jonny is fun, always prepared for action, and fully armed with the facts about HIV."

HIV diagnoses have been rising steadily over the last 10 years in Britain, following a significant decline in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which many have attributed to the hard-hitting “Don’t Die Of Ignorance” campaign. It is estimated that 70,000 people are now living with HIV in the UK, with up to a third unaware that they have the virus. The risk of becoming infected with HIV is therefore greater than it has ever been, and THT estimate that at the current rate of increase, over 400,000 people in the UK could have HIV by 2032.

For more information about AIDS in the UK, please visit AVERT’s HIV and AIDS in the UK page.

(BBC News, 07/04/06 and 01/10/07; BBC press release, 01/10/07)

THT launches 25-point action plan for UK sexual health

The UK HIV and AIDS charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has launched a new report containing twenty-five suggestions to help ensure equality and justice for HIV positive people, and improve the sexual health of those living in the UK.

The report comes as THT marks its 25th anniversary year and renews its commitment to reducing the spread of HIV across the UK. It covers a wide range of topics, from specific targets on HIV (such as reducing undiagnosed cases of HIV from 32% to 25% by 2012), to more general calls to improve sexual health (for example by expanding the role of school nurses to include the provision contraceptives and sexual health advice to young people.)

One of the more controversial proposals in the document is the suggestion that HIV test kits should be legalised for use at home. The sale of HIV test kits that provide instant results (as a pregnancy test might) for use at home is currently banned in the UK. Many believe that such kits present a risk, as it cannot be guaranteed that the tests will be used correctly, and those testing may be unable to access good quality counselling after a positive (or indeed negative) result. THT is pressing for regulated test kits to be introduced to encourage testing uptake.

“Use of unreliable, unregulated kits from the internet is increasing, so we need to offer a safe alternative,” said Paul Ward, Deputy Chief Executive at THT. “People can test at home for pregnancy and many other sexually transmitted infections. It’s time that they had the same safe choice for HIV”

Other suggestions include:

• Ring-fencing public health funding (two-thirds of sexual health clinics in the UK have so far failed to receive all or part of the £350 million allocated to sexual health services by the government in 2004)
• Creating a plan to reduce the sexual health impact of the 2012 Olympic Games in London
• Making sex and relationships education a core part of the National Curriculum in the UK
• Providing free HIV treatment for all, including failed asylum seekers and undocumented migrants
• Clarification and reform of the law that currently enables criminal prosecution for HIV transmission
• Lobbying to end the ban on HIV positive people entering the United States

The full list of 25 suggestions can be found on the THT website.

You can find out more about HIV in the UK in our AIDS in the UK section

(THT Press Release, 12/09/07)

HIV prevention funding does not match need say NAT

A survey by the UK’s National AIDS Trust (NAT) has found that spending on HIV prevention in England has probably decreased over the last ten years, despite the UK now being home to more HIV positive people than ever before.

The study claims that significant increases in the number of migrants and gay men living with HIV, coupled with evidence of increased sexual risk-taking across the population as a whole, clearly indicate that the National Health Service (NHS) needs to make HIV prevention a much greater priority.

Yet many Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) across England expressed uncertainty when asked about HIV prevention activities, and the amounts they were spending on them. The hard data that were provided by PCTs suggested that overall HIV prevention expenditure in England was approximately £38 million in 2005/06. Taking inflation into consideration, this figure is less than was being spent ten years ago, despite today’s greater level of need.

Just 55% of PCTs had HIV prevention as a priority in their Local Delivery Plans, and even in areas where HIV is particularly prevalent, PCTs were no more likely to have HIV prevention as an agreed priority. Many did not have an accurate picture of local HIV prevention needs, and could not say how many people were accessing HIV care in their local area.

"This survey has revealed shocking complacency around HIV prevention in England today,” commented Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust.

“With numbers living with HIV at an all-time high, now is not a time for HIV prevention to be ignored and for funding to be reduced. HIV prevention needs to be a public health priority and more investment is urgently needed to stop many thousands more people in England becoming needlessly infected with HIV in the next ten years."

To learn more about HIV and AIDS in the UK, please visit our AIDS in the UK page.

(NAT press release, 11/09/07)

UK Prime Minister launches global health plan

The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has launched a new global health plan that aims to improve and strengthen health systems within developing countries.

The plan, designed as a partnership between donor countries, non-governmental organisations and international agencies, is designed to co-ordinate the multitude of funding streams that are currently financing health projects in developing countries. It is also hoped that it can strengthen the healthcare systems of some of the world’s poorest nations by increasing numbers of medical staff, and ensuring care is delivered effectively and efficiently. A shortage of medical personnel is one of the principal barriers to improved health and life expectancy in many countries, and is seriously hampering the roll out of antiretroviral treatment in many areas with serious AIDS epidemics.

The scheme will initially apply to just seven countries - Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Cambodia and Nepal - but others are expected to join if it is shown to be effective.

At present the plan has the backing of the World Bank, a number of United Nations agencies, Canada, Norway and several countries in the European Union. Japan and the United States, two of the world’s largest aid donors, have not yet agreed to participate. The United States has long held reservations about directly funding governments of developing countries, though proponents of the scheme insist it is the only way to ensure that basic health infrastructure is improved on a national level.

"There is no greater cause than that every man, woman and child in the world should be able to benefit from the best medicine and healthcare," said Gordon Brown at the launch. "And our vision today is that we can triumph over ancient scourges and for the first time in history conquer polio, TB, measles and then, with further advances and initiatives, go on to address pneumoccal pneumonia, malaria and eventually HIV/Aids."

Mr Brown went on to say that the scheme will be extremely important in helping to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals on health, which seek to cut child mortality, improve maternal health and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

NGOs have generally welcomed the global health plan, but have warned that it will not be effective unless extra funding is also pledged by the donor governments involved.

"This initiative will only succeed if enough countries get behind it and if it mobilises additional aid to provide coordinated and expanded state health provision," said the director of Oxfam, Barbara Stocking. "The true test will be in 12 to 18 months' time when we will see if donors are actively financing robust national health plans with strategies to train and recruit the health workers so desperately needed to deliver health care for all."

(Financial Times & The Guardian 06/09/07)