NHS agrees to monitor effects of HIV/Aids budget cuts
19 January 2007
Brighton and Hove’s Primary Care NHS Trust (PCT) has pledged to monitor closely the effects of Government cuts in its budget for work with people with HIV/Aids in the city.
The promise was made after a request by Green city councillors for a scrutiny of the cuts that have seen the Aids Support Grant (ASG) in the city slashed from £437,000 in 2002/03 to £307,380 in 2006/07.
“At our request, the PCT reported on the situation this week to the city council’s Health Overview Scrutiny Committee,” said Cllr Bill Randall, Green Party health scrutiny spokesperson.
“It has agreed to monitor the situation to provide evidence of the effects of the cuts on services to those with HIV/Aids, which it will then present to the Department of Health.
“Despite the special efforts of PCT staff, who share our sense of injustice about the cuts, service will suffer. We will continue to campaign for the money to be restored.”
Notes to editors:
For more information please contact Geoffrey Bowden Green Party Press Officer 07958 682 683.(1) The budget cuts were made following a change in government policy to reflect a national increase in HIV/Aids among women and children and a greater concentration of resources to meet their needs.
Greens agree that the needs of women and children with HIV/Aids must not be overlooked, but the cuts do not reflect the epidemiology of infection in Brighton and Hove, which has a very high level of infection among gay men in a city which is home to a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of about 35,000 people.
The annual increase in HIV/Aids among gay men in the city is 12 per cent and that 920 clients used the services of groups supported by the programme in 2004/2005.
(2) Brighton and Hove City Council unanimously passed a Green Party motion condemning the cuts and the inflexibility of the national HIV/AIDS funding formula December. The council also agreed to:
Campaign for the restoration of the cuts
Seek the support of the City's three MPs in doing so.
Seek a commitment from the Government that the funding will not be scrapped altogether in two years time – a prospect that is a cause of deep concern to the Terrence Higgins Trust, Brighton Body Positive, Open Door and other LGBT and health groups working in the City.
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