The government 'focuses too much on tackling HIV/Aids abroad

The National Aids Trust says the UK is breaking a pledge made to the United Nations as part of an international commitment to tackling HIV/Aids.

There were an estimated 7,000 new cases of HIV in the UK last year.

But a Department of Health spokeswoman said there was "much to be proud of" in the government's record on tackling HIV/Aids.

Under the "Ungass" Declaration of Commitment on HIV and Aids adopted in 2001,189 members of the United Nations - including the UK - made a pledge to tackle HIV and Aids within their own countries.

The declaration included a set of agreed targets on HIV issues including leadership, prevention and human rights.

We have much to be proud of in our record on addressing HIV in this country Department of Health spokeswoman

The National Aids Trust (NAT) says that, although countries were required to submit an report to the UN in October 2003 outlining how much progress they had made, the UK was one of the few high-income countries to have failed to do so.

In its own Ungass progress report, the NAT says the UK has failed to set national HIV prevention targets and to confront HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

It also highlights what it sees as a "de-prioritisation" of sexual health within the NHS, which it believes has led to a lack of local HIV prevention programmes and long waiting times for testing.

The NAT is also concerned that anti-discrimination laws do not adequately protect people affected by HIV and Aids, and that a promised action plan on the issue has not yet been published.

It criticises the government for not having a cross-departmental HIV strategy, which it says causes discrepancies between government policies - and for focusing on tackling HIV and Aids internationally rather than in the UK.

'Set an example'

The NAT says the government must act quickly to halt the continuing rise of HIV rates in the UK.

It is calling on the government to introduce a number of measures, including creating a Single Equality Act, a cross-departmental HIV strategy and to review policies on how asylum seekers with HIV are treated.

Deborah Jack, chief executive of the NAT said: "The government has broken its promises to the international community and failed to set an example of leadership on HIV within the UK.

"We cannot afford to wait until thousands more people are infected before the government decides to act."

But a Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We have much to be proud of in our record on addressing HIV in this country.

"We have published the first ever national strategy for sexual health and HIV, which aims to tackle rising rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections and modernise services."

She added: "Last year, the Department of Health invested over �10 million in HIV prevention and sexual health promotion, including world class HIV prevention for those groups most at risk.