7. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: World AIDS Day

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:12 pm on 30 November 2021.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 5:12, 30 November 2021

Diolch yn fawr, Russell. I think it is important that we are very clear about how many people are affected by HIV in Wales; in 2019, we had around 2,378 people who had accessed HIV care. About 77 per cent of those were men, and you're absolutely right to focus on the need to try and ensure that we have early diagnosis. To do that, people need to step forward and come forward, and so getting rid of the whole stigma situation that you talked about is absolutely central to that. And it will be central to the plan that has been developed, and obviously, on that task and finish group, the Terrence Higgins Trust will be a part of developing that plan. The Welsh Government have already had several meetings with stakeholders and are developing specific actions to address education about HIV and the stigma experienced by those living with HIV, and the first meeting of that stigma group will be taking place before the end of this year.

You did talk about the new treatment that is being developed, and you're quite right that from January 1, NICE has approved this. That will be rolled out from January 1 in Wales and that will stop people from needing to take daily medication. So, that will be available to those appropriate for that medication, so obviously, that's a clinical call rather than something that I can be clear about here today. So, I do think it's important that we understand that actually, there is still a stigma in relation to HIV and AIDS, and one in eight who have AIDS and who certainly have HIV have never told anyone about their status outside of the healthcare setting, and about 18 per cent of people with HIV have avoided healthcare even when they needed it. So, we've got to crack this, and we have got to crack the stigma situation in Wales.