In the summer with the news of the impending merger of the Department for International Development with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office STOPAIDS wrote to the Prime Minister to express our views on how the newly created Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) could best deliver for the world’s poorest and most marginalised, capitalise on the opportunities that the merger offers and uphold the values and vision of ‘Global Britain’. You can read that letter here.
We have recently received a largely positive response from FCDO Minister Wendy Morton MP which speaks to the Government’s continued commitment to HIV and global health.
The following excerpt is particularly welcome:
“I would like to assure you that the UK government will continue to be a world leader in the HIV response, through our considerable investment in the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, as well as through support to the Robert Carr Fund to advocate for the rights and needs of the most marginalised groups, such as LGBTQ+ people and sex workers. The UK Government will continue to support countries, in partnership with international organisations and NGOs, to strengthen their health systems to achieve universal health coverage, improve health security, and tackle the diseases and health conditions, such as HIV, that disproportionately affect the poorest and most vulnerable. This, together with our commitment to sexual reproductive health and rights is key to ensuring that the poorest and most vulnerable are protected from future crises, leaving no-one behind and ending the preventable deaths of mothers, newborn babies and children by 2030.”