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Select committee: Women and Equalities Committee

9th Special Report - Tackling HIV transmission: Government Response

Published 6 February 2026

Women and Equalities Committee The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections Report on parliament.uk ↗

At a glance

The government's response

This document responds to 9th Report - Tackling HIV transmission.

This is the government's response, published 6 February 2026.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government says it is united in its "ambition to end new HIV transmissions in England by 2030", and its response to the report's recommendations is a mix of 'partially accept' and 'accept'.

  • On a public awareness campaign for young people, it partially accepts, saying a campaign aimed at all young people "would not be cost effective" and one covering both HIV testing and contraception "risks being ineffective". It points to the £4.8 million HIV Prevention England programme from April 2026 to March 2029.
  • On expanding opt-out testing, it partially accepts. It will invest £156 million from April 2026 to March 2029 for opt-out testing in emergency departments in very high and high prevalence areas, but opt-out testing is not recommended in low prevalence areas as it "is not cost-effective".
  • On PrEP access, it partially accepts a national digital rollout. It will "review options" for online PrEP through the NHS App from 2026, and states "there is no additional funding for PrEP appointments" beyond the public health grant increase.
  • It accepts the recommendations on awareness of PrEP among Black African communities and on injectable PrEP, noting cabotegravir was approved by NICE in November 2025 and is "currently being rolled out at sexual health clinics across the country".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error

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