STOPAIDS has reviewed the main parties’ manifestos to better understand each parties’ commitments on our key impact areas should they be elected into government.
The information below is just a snapshot of what is included in the manifestos. You can read the full manifestos online – the Conservative Party manifesto is here, the Labour Party manifesto is here, the Liberal Democrat manifesto is here , the Scottish National Party manifesto is here and the Green Party manifesto is here.
What the Conservative manifesto says about HIV, global health and cross-cutting issues, such as access to medicines and innovation
HIV
There is no mention of HIV or the HIV response.
Human Rights
The manifesto commits to “support marginalised communities in the developing world and to hosting the first ever UK government international LGBT conference”.
Global Health
On global health the manifesto includes a commitment to “end the preventable deaths of mothers, new borns and children by 2030 and to “lead the way in eradicating Ebola and Malaria”.
Access to Medicines and Trade
The manifesto reiterates the commitment “that the NHS is not on the table” in future trade negotiations and “that the price the NHS pays for drugs is not on the table”.
Research and Innovation
There is a commitment to “invest in preventing disease as well as curing it”. It also sets out that they will “extend the Cancer Drugs Fund” and “collaborate internationally and with the European Union on scientific research”. There is a further commitment to “increase domestic public research and development spending including in basic science research to meet the target of spending 2.4% of Gross Domestic Product on research and development”. They also commit to “turning attention to solving… antibiotic resistance.”
International Development
The Conservatives set out that they will “maintain the commitment to 0.7% of Gross National Income on Development” and do more to help countries receiving aid become self-sufficient.
What the Labour manifesto says about HIV, global health and cross-cutting issues, such as access to medicines and innovation
HIV
There is no mention of HIV in the manifesto but there is commitment to “roll out PrEP” in the UK.
Human Rights
The manifesto sets out Labour’s position that “human rights and international humanitarian law are fundamental pillars of a secure global system”. It commits to “appoint human rights advisors who would work across the Foreign Office and government to prioritise a coordinated approach to human rights”. They also set out that they will “implement a gender transformative approach across all our international work, including tripling funding for grassroots women’s organisations and establishing an independent ombudsman to tackle abuse in the development sector.”
Access to medicines and Trade
There are multiple commitments on access to medicines and trade including that they will “introduce legislation to ensure transparency and parliamentary scrutiny of trade and investment agreements”. They will also “reject any trade agreements that undermine labour standards or environmental protections, and rule out UK Export Finance support to companies engaged in bribery or corruption.” On access to medicines specifically they will “promote fairer international patent regimes that do not prevent countries from accessing essential medicines and support efforts to increase the transparency of medicines pricing so governments can negotiate fair prices” and “in the long term, ensure that all medicines developed with the support of UK taxpayer money are accessible to people in the Global South.” As was announced at the Labour Party Conference they “will establish a generic drug company.” Further they set out that “if fair prices are rejected for patented drugs we will use the Patents Act provisions, compulsory licences and research exemptions to secure access to generic versions, and we will aim to increase the number of pharmaceutical jobs in the UK.” They state that they “will play an active role in the medical innovation model, ensuring rewards and incentives match” and “ensure that all parts of the NHS, … and medicine pricing are all fully excluded and protected from any international trade deals.”
Research and Innovation
They commit to “set a target for 3% of GDP to be spent on research and development by 2030” and state they “will achieve this target by increasing direct support for R&D and reforming the innovation ecosystem to better ‘crowd in’ private investment.” They also state that the “NHS will be at the forefront of the development of genomics and cell therapies so that patients can benefit from new treatments for cancer and dementia, whilst ensuring the UK continues to lead in medical developments.”
International Development
There is a commitment to “address historic injustices and reset relationship with countries in the Global South based on the principles of redistribution and equality”. On aid and how it will be spent there is also a commitment to “a standalone Department for International development with an aid budget of at least 0.7% of Gross National Income”. Labour commits to “introduce the reduction of inequality as a goal for all aid spending alongside existing poverty reduction and gender equality goals”.
The manifesto makes further commitments to “uphold basic rights to…health… by establishing a new Unit for Public Services within DFID, which will include increasing direct budgetary support to government so they can build sustainable services.” They also commit to “Promote fairer international tax rules and help countries in the Global South build progressive tax systems to finance essential public services.”
What the Liberal Democrat Manifesto says about HIV, global health and cross-cutting issues, such as access to medicines and innovation
HIV
HIV is mentioned once in the manifesto in the commitment to “ensure Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention is fully available to all who need it on the NHS.”
Human Rights
The manifesto commits to “protect, defend, and promote human rights for all, including LGBT+ individuals who are persecuted across the world as well as those persecuted for their religion or belief.” And states that “human rights are global. An individual’s liberty should be equally respected wherever they live.” They set out that they will “pursue a foreign agenda with gender equality at its heart, focusing on: the transformation of the position of women through economic inclusion, education and training; ensuring the lives of women and girls are not ignored in favour of trade or regional alliances; working to extend reproductive rights and end female genital mutilation; and ending sexual violence in confict zones.”
Access to medicines and Trade
They will “work through international bodies for better regulation and scrutiny of international trade and investment treaties to ensure they do not worsen inequalities or undermine human rights or developing countries’ ability to regulate the environmental and social impacts of businesses.”
Research and Innovation
There is a commitment to “increase national spending on research and development to three per cent of GDP. We will publish a roadmap to achieve this ambition by the earliest date possible, via an interim target of 2.4 per cent of GDP by no later than 2027.”
International Development
The Lib Dems set out they will commit to “spending 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on aid: reducing poverty, defending human rights, protecting the environment and preventing violent conflict worldwide.” They also commit to “prioritising development that both helps the poorest and ties in with our strategic international objectives on gender equality, climate change and the environment, human rights, conflict prevention and tackling inequality.”
What the Scottish National Party says about HIV, global health and cross-cutting issues, such as access to medicines and innovation
HIV
HIV is mentioned once in the manifesto in relation to a Private Members Bill that “would create safe consumption rooms to help reduce the number of people dying from drug overdoses and tackle a rise in HIV among drug users.” The manifesto also sets out that they will “continue to press the UK Government to accept responsibility for the contaminated blood scandal and pay compensation to the surviving victims and bereaved families.”
Access to medicines and Trade
There are multiple commitments on access and trade. The SNP commits to “propose a new National Health Service Protection Act to guarantee that trade deals will not undermine the founding principles of the NHS, nor open it to profit driven exploitation” and goes on to say that the “NHS Protection Act would enshrine in law that our NHS must be protected as publicly owned, publicly operated, and its services publicly commissioned… The Act would stipulate that any goods or services that are procured by the NHS must be explicitly prevented from being subject to any future ‘investment protection mechanisms’ or ‘investor state dispute resolution mechanisms…. As a result, the new law would force any future government to have these explicit protections and exemptions on the face of any future trade agreements. Any proposed agreements without these explicit protections could not be considered for approval by either the UK government or UK parliament.”
It also sets out that in order “to give a double-lock on protecting our NHS, the new law would also ensure that future trade deals would require the explicit consent of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, and Northern Irish Assembly; and conformation that any trade deal entered into did not adversely impact on our respective health services prior to any deal being ratified.”
International Development
The manifesto sets out that “The SNP will continue to demand that the Government keeps to the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on overseas development assistance, and that this money is concentrated in the hands of the Department for International Development and not spent on projects other than humanitarian aid.” It also recognises that “the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are a blueprint for building a better future for all. SNP MPs will continue to press the UK government to act on these goals so we can tackle global challenges including poverty, injustice and inequality”.
What the Green manifesto says about HIV, global health and cross-cutting issues, such as access to medicines and innovation
HIV
HIV is mentioned twice in the manifesto, both times in the domestic context. There is a commitment to “ensure that PrEP – a daily pill which prevents HIV infection – is provided by NHS England without delay” and to “increase funding for areas of the NHS heavily relied on by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer and Asexual (LGBTIQA+) people, including trans healthcare, gender identity clinics, HIV treatment and mental health provision.”
Human Rights
The manifesto contains a commitment to “create a new Ministry for the Interior that will be fully committed to upholding human rights.”
Access to Medicines and Trade
The Green’s set out their intention to “end the current practice of including investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms in trade and investment agreements. These mechanisms can give too much power to investors, at the expense of democracy, and need to be scrapped.” They also commit to “ensure trade democracy by assessing the development impact of all trade and investment agreements and guaranteeing Parliament a vote on them.”
International Development
They will “phase in an increase in spending on foreign aid from 0.7% to 1% of our GNI, making us the third highest donor (by Gross National Income) in the world by 2021.” Also on international development they state that “we have a moral imperative to right the wrongs of the past, including using our influence and wealth to help alleviate suffering and redress global power imbalances” and that they “will build bridges not walls and we will empower people in the Global South to control their futures.” There is a further commitment to “write off debts owed to the UK by the poorest countries.” They also set out that they “will make supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals a priority.”