Scotland Facilitators: Roy Kilpatrick, HIV Scotland and Deborah Jack, NAT
Rapporteur: Peter Noble, NLTSG
This workshop was attended by 23 people. Roy Kilpatrick opened the session with a presentation about the Scottish Sexual Health Strategy and highlighted some of the key areas:
It is important to emphasise that to the date of the conference only the draft strategy as presented to the Scottish Executive by its Expert Group exists. The final shape and content of the Strategy as published by the Scottish Executive remains to be seen, although it is anticipated that it will be published before the end of December 2004.
The main strength of the Scottish Strategy is that it sets sexual health in the broad context of socio-economic and attitudinal influences. It envisages a long-term programme of effort to engage relevant local and national government bodies, as well as cross-departmental bodies and community and voluntary sector agencies in improving sexual health across a range of responsibilities and challenges.
There are explicit core values underpinning the strategy:
The importance of sexual health
Social justice
Fairness
Equality
There is strong leadership at a political level and commitment to:
Establish an advisory group chaired by a minister
Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation and delivery of the strategy
Systematic review
HIV is not prominent in the strategy. It is subsumed within general sexual health and there is a danger that those at risk of HIV are not adequately addressed within the broad approach to sexual health.
HIV needs to be central to any sexual health strategy. HIV Scotland has recommended a specific section on HIV in the strategy, given its complexity and range across issues of sexual health, drug use, mother to child transmission, equality, protection, immigration etc.
In the past there was an HIV strategy for Scotland and this was reviewed in 2000. The draft Sexual Health strategy recommends that its monitoring system include the recommendations of the HIV Strategy Review. HIV Scotland has recommended that this review is revisited specifically in light of the Sexual health Strategy and the recent developments in the epidemiology of HIV in Scotland .
The strategy is strong on values and breadth of approaches, but weak on detail. Explicit reference to the human rights context is weak, although this is offset by the fact that the role of the national co-ordinator for the Strategy is set within the context of human rights legislation and ethos.
Those present felt that there had been little involvement of people living with HIV in the development of the strategy or at any stage of the process. Individuals present felt excluded and also felt that as a result of the lack of involvement, there was little awareness of what was going on at local or regional level. It was felt that there was a gap between HIV Scotland and some HIV self-help groups.
Roy outlined the meetings that had been held as part of the consultation process and expressed concern that the attendance had been low at some, particularly in Glasgow .
Some people living with HIV felt excluded from the consultation process
The strategy is strong on values and breadth of approaches, but weak on detail
Those at risk of HIV are not adequately addressed in the strategy
There is a need for a better information flow between Scottish and UK-wide organisations and local organisations and individuals living with HIV in Scotland
Local organisations need to ensure that they engage with planning the implementation of the strategy with their health board
There should be a specific section on HIV in the Scottish Sexual Health Strategy
This workshop was evaluated by 12 people from Scotland between the ages of 35 and 63 (average age 42). Of those evaluating this meeting the following areas were represented:
Edinburgh |
Dundee |
Glasgow |
Aberdeen |
Fife |
50%, |
17% |
17% |
8% |
8% |
Gender
6 female, 6 male
Ethnicity
6 white, 1 black African, 4 not stated, 1 other non-white
Sexuality
9 heterosexual, 2 gay, 1 not stated
Usefulness
Very useful |
Useful |
Not useful |
8% (1) |
58% (7) |
34% (4) |
6 people set themselves action points
Need better/more strategies in Scotland
Might write to Scottish parliament
Meeting with Roy Kilpatrick
Further consultation
Keep doing advocacy work
Further meetings in Scotland
Move on to Treatment and Trials