World AIDS Day 2007 - Peter Tatchell Protests Over HIV Prevention Funding Cuts

HIV funding for gay men slashed

One-third cut from London budget

Group at highest risk loses £650,000 in funding

No proper consultation, expert advice ignored



"NHS chiefs plan to slash funding for HIV prevention work among gay
men in London by 36% - a cut of more than £650,000," said gay human
rights campaigner Peter Tatchell of OutRage!

He was speaking ahead of World Aids Day, which is this Saturday, 1 December.

"If this cut goes ahead, it will mean that the NHS money allocated for HIV prevention work among gay men in London next year will be less than half the money invested in 1997," added Mr Tatchell.

"The London NHS is spending over 200 times more on HIV treatment than
on HIV prevention. This is a perverse, distorted health-care
prioritisation.

"Cutting finance for prevention work among the highest HIV risk group
is just plain ignorant. Prevention makes more sense, and is more cost
effective, than treatment.

"These proposed cuts have been announced without proper consultation
with gay and HIV organisations, and against the advice of expert HIV
agencies and professionals, such as the Terrence Higgins Trust and Gay Men Fighting Aids.

"London has a huge concentration of gay and bisexual men. One in 12
male Londoners have acknowledged having had a same-sex experience,
according to the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles
(1994). The real current figure is probably much higher.

"It is crazy to undermine life-saving health promotion work. This cut
is a short-sighted move that is likely to result in more HIV
infections, more illness and death and, given the high treatment
costs, more NHS expenditure in the long term.

"It is a short term budget gamble that is putting at risk the lives of gay Londoners.

"Gay and bisexual men remain the highest risk group for HIV in the UK, accounting for 80% of all domestically-acquired HIV infections.

"The rate of HIV infection in our community has risen by 20 per cent
in the past five years. The need for education and prevention work is
still very great.

"Condom use and safer sex messages are not reaching many men who have
sex with men, especially teenagers and members of minority race and
faith communities.

"There is an obvious and urgent need for more and better HIV
prevention campaigns for gay men, rather than these penny-pinching
cutbacks.

"Yet again the Labour government reveals its Jekyll and Hyde attitude
to the gay community. One minute they are repealing homophobic laws.
The next minute they are undermining life-saving HIV prevention
programmes.

"I urge people to write letters of protest to the Health Minister,
Alan Johnson MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA," said Mr Tatchell.