Agenda item
Request for HWB to consider becoming a supporter of the Halve it Coalition
Recommendations:
1. To note the good progress that has been made in reducing the late diagnosis in Tower Hamlets of HIV through effective partnership work across the NHS, council and voluntary sector.
2. To ask the Mayor, as chair of the Health Well Being Board, to contact the Halve it Coalition and request that the Tower Hamlets Health and Well Being Board is listed as a supporter of the coalition’s aims.
3. Continue the work across the partnership to increase the availability and uptake of HIV testing to ensure the health benefits of early diagnosis are realised.
Lead for Item: Chris Lovitt (Associate Director of Public Health, LBTH)
Minutes:
Chris Lovitt (Associate Director of Public Health, LBTH) presented the report, which highlighted the reduction in the late diagnosis of HIV as a national and local priority.
He described the Halve it Coalition as an organisation comprising 21 HIV charities, patient groups, clinician groups and observer members including the Local Government Association, Department of Health, Public Health England, NICE which had as its support of Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
The Halve it Coalition patient groups and clinician groups sought the support of statutory and voluntary partners to continue to prioritise HIV as an important public health issue through action to implement the following stated aims:-
· Fully implement National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health guidance on HIV testing.
· Support the delivery of the Public Health Outcomes Framework (PHOF) by ensuring that local health organisations were equipped to realise the benefits of early detection of HIV.
· Offer incentives to test for HIV in a variety of healthcare settings, for example through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) frameworks.
· Ensure that people diagnosed with HIV had access to any retroviral therapies (ARTs) to prevent onward transmission in line with the joint recommendations of the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS (EAGA) and the British HIV Association (BHIVA).
· Ensure quality-assured (i.e. CE marked) self-testing kits for HIV when available, were integrated into local HIV testing strategies along with home sampling kits.
It was noted that the Halve it Coalition had been successful in achieving national support including through observer members such as the Local Government Association, Department of Health, Public Health England, NICE and had already achieved many of their stated aims at a national level and were now seeking local organisations to sign up as supporters.
It was also noted that Tower Hamlets Health and Well Being would be the first HWB to sign up and join Lewisham Council who signed up as a supporter on the 1st Dec 2014 as early local adopters.
In response to questions the following points were noted:
- The Tower Hamlets Health and Well Being Board, in agreeing to the invitation to be enlisted as a supporter of the Coalition meant a public endorsement to the Coalition’s aims and a show of leadership in the commitment to continue the campaign on early diagnosis, a reduction in HIV infections and associated health harms.
- That it was important that Tower Hamlets was involved in national recommendations and requirements to widen access to HIV testing, given that it was one of 64 Local Authorities with a high incidence of HIV.
- That reducing HIV late diagnosis was a Public Health Outcome Framework reflecting the importance of early diagnosis for both the individual and the public sector.
- That there were no financial implications for the Council;
The Board noted expressions of support from Members present.
RESOLVED -
- That the good progress that had been made in reducing the late diagnosis in Tower Hamlets of HIV through effective partnership work across the NHS, council and voluntary sector be noted.
- To ask the Mayor, as Chair of the Health Well Being Board, to contact the Halve it Coalition and request that the Tower Hamlets Health and Well Being Board is listed as a supporter of the coalition’s aims.
- To note that there was no dissension on the part of partners of the Board on the request that Tower Hamlets Health and Well Being Board was listed as a supporter of the coalition’s aims.
- That the work across the partnership to increase the availability and uptake of HIV testing to ensure the realisation of health benefits of early diagnosis be continued.
Action by : Chris Lovitt (Associate Director of Public Health, LBTH)
Supporting documents: