Lords And MPs met today to discuss ending AIDS by 2030 and having an AIDS free generation within 15 years.
Parliament hosted a roundtable meeting today (World AIDS Day), bringing together a host of Lords MPs and speakers to talk about how to bring about an AIDS free generation by 2030. The talk was hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group On Global Health and HIV/AIDS charity StopAIDS.
Speaking at the event were MPs Diane Abbott and Chris Freer along with Baroness Masham, Baroness Liz Barker, Baroness Verma and Lord Cashman.
A packed room heard from three speakers, Alexa, Cristian and Chan Chan who talked about their personal journey with HIV.
Diane Abbott saluted the bravery of LGBT activists in Uganda, singling out the tremendous work achieved by Icebreakers, a support community in Uganda, for their efforts in the country, where politicians are fiercely homophobic and where HIV/AIDS medication is hard for LGBTs to gain access to.
Lord Cashman also put forward questions on how to curve the ever-growing numbers of gay and bisexual men who were being diagnosed with HIV in the UK.
Recent statistics revealed that new infections in gay and bisexual men have risen again – and that record numbers of men who have sex with men are unaware of their statuses.
Baroness Verma said that she was proud that the UK was “significantly funding the Global fund”, for HIV/AIDS awareness and health campaigns, and added that we will continue to “champion key populations”, but was keen to stress that there was a “long way to go”.
Addressing the room she said, “It’s great to hear us talk about ending AIDS but the job is far from over.”
