Tag: Lord Black of Brentwood

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recent finding by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that pre-exposure prophylaxis could reduce HIV rates in men who have sex with men in the UK by between 40 and 60 per cent.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is working with local authorities, clinicians, patient representatives and Public Health England to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to groups at increased risk to prevent them acquiring HIV. This includes a full review and analysis of published literature in this area. The PrEP clinical policy proposition is one of many going through NHS England’s 2016/17 prioritisation round.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-06-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they have spent on combating HIV stigma in each of the last five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Combatting HIV stigma is integral to much of the work carried out to tackle HIV and part of our National HIV and Sexual Health Promotion programme is to reduce stigma by working with the communities most affected by HIV. Over the last two years, Public Health England provided support for the People Living with HIV Stigma Survey, a collaborative cross sector community led initiative to capture the feelings and experiences of living with HIV in a variety of settings. Spending on stigma is not identified separately within the National HIV and Sexual Health Promotion programme and related work.

The National Health Service, local authorities, Government, community and faith groups, the media and individuals all have a part to play in eliminating HIV-related stigma.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 30 November (HL3685), on what basis they differentiate dogs and cats in the requirements to report accidents.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires a driver to stop and report an accident involving horses, cattle, sheep, asses, mules, pigs, goats or dogs, but not cats or wild animals. This requirement arises from their status as working animals rather than as domestic pets.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to make pre-exposure prophylaxis available in England to men who have sex with men in England who are at high risk of HIV.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is working with local authorities, clinicians, patient representatives and Public Health England to consider the clinical and cost effectiveness of providing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to groups at increased risk to prevent them acquiring HIV. This includes a full review and analysis of published literature in this area. The PrEP clinical policy proposition is one of many going through NHS England’s 2016/17 prioritisation round.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 13 July (HL1006), whether they have any plans to monitor private access to (1) Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) from clinics within England, and (2) generic versions of Truvada for PrEP online from overseas.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It would not be possible or practical to monitor how individuals choose to access medicines or services outside of the National Health Service or to assess the impact on that individual. Registered pharmacies that operate online and that may supply drugs for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are the responsibility of the General Pharmaceutical Council. We are aware that some local authority commissioned sexual health services are offering monitoring of the pharmacological efficacy of generic PrEP however this is a matter for local decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussion they have had with the governments of China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam about combatting the illegal tiger trade and tiger farming in those countries.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

The UK Government remains committed to playing a leading international role in tackling the illegal wildlife trade (IWT), including in tigers, and working with our international partners to bring an end to this scourge.

Issues concerning illegal trade in tigers, their parts and derivatives are addressed through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES). The UK is an active member of the CITES Working Group on tigers and issues discussed include illegal trade and captive tiger breeding. The Working Group has submitted a report of its work for consideration at the CITES Standing Committee meeting to be held in Geneva on 11–15 January 2016.

The UK has engaged with China, Laos and Vietnam on IWT through two high-level international Conferences on IWT, the first of which was hosted by the UK in London in February 2014 and which was attended by all three countries. China and Vietnam also attended the Kasane Conference on IWT in Botswana in March 2015, in which the UK played an active role. The UK will be providing support to Vietnam to host a third high-level international Conference on IWT, due to take place in late 2016, and will be encouraging Thailand’s participation. The UK’s diplomatic posts also engage with the relevant authorities in all three countries about how best to tackle IWT.

The Government has also committed £13 million to support projects around the world to tackle illegal wildlife trade by reducing demand, strengthening law enforcement and developing sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by IWT, primarily through Defra’s Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund. A second round of the Challenge Fund was launched on 5 August and successful applicants will be notified in early 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when a vaccine will be procured for the human papilloma virus vaccination programme for men who have sex with men.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.

In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted HPV vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risks to individual and public health of significant numbers of individuals accessing generic versions of Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis online from overseas.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It would not be possible or practical to monitor how individuals choose to access medicines or services outside of the National Health Service or to assess the impact on that individual. Registered pharmacies that operate online and that may supply drugs for use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) are the responsibility of the General Pharmaceutical Council. We are aware that some local authority commissioned sexual health services are offering monitoring of the pharmacological efficacy of generic PrEP however this is a matter for local decision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2015-12-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding they are making available under the UK Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund to combat the illegal tiger trade and tiger farming.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

In December 2013, Defra and the Department for International Development announced a £10 million fund over the period from 2014/15 to 2017/18 to help developing countries tackle the illegal wildlife trade, to be administered by Defra. In March 2015, the Secretary of State for International Development announced that an additional £3 million would be made available for this purpose. Most of this funding is distributed through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund.

Nineteen successful projects from the first round of the UK Government’s Challenge Fund were announced in December 2014. These included a number of projects that aimed to reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products in Asia, build capacity and strengthen law enforcement to combat wildlife trafficking. Challenge Funding directly benefitting tigers includes a £210,000 contribution towards a project strengthening institutional frameworks to combat wildlife trafficking in Indonesia, which is also supporting local communities mitigate human-tiger conflict. The Fund has also contributed over £59,000 to a project producing educational children’s videos in Vietnam, one of which is on tigers, to help reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products.

A second round of the Challenge Fund opened in August 2015. We expect to announce the successful projects from the second round early this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Black of Brentwood on 2016-02-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the procurement of a human papilloma virus vaccination programme currently taking place includes the vaccine needed for men who have sex with men.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and Public Health England are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to secure vaccine to support the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for girls. The procurement will take account of the costs and benefits of all vaccines offered to establish which provides best value for money for the National Health Service.

In November 2015, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the expert body that advises the Government on all immunisation matters, advised that a targeted HPV vaccination programme should be undertaken for men who have sex with men up to 45 years of age who attend genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics. They noted that this should be subject to procurement of the vaccine and delivery of the programme at a cost-effective price. The JCVI acknowledged that finding a way to implement its advice would be challenging and made clear that work was needed by the Department and others to consider commissioning and delivery routes for this programme. This work is already underway and we will announce our plans as soon as we can.