UK may soon extend to foreigners free HIV treatment

Foreigners in the United Kingdom, including Filipinos, may soon be entitled to free human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment, a report of the news site BBC said. The report said a proposed measure was drawn up because roughly 25,000 people with undiagnosed HIV in UK were foreigners or born abroad. “Conservative former cabinet minister Lord Fowler… has called for an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill currently before the Lords. This would extend free [HIV] treatment to those who have been in Britain for six months,” a BBC report said. Currently, UK's free HIV treatment program covers only Britons and excludes foreigners (asylum seekers, foreign students, and tourists). “The proposal will be introduced by the government in a Statutory Instrument rather than as part of the legislation,” said BBC. Preventive measure equates to less expense “Campaigners say the move in England will reduce the risk of Britons being infected and cut the costs of more expensive later treatment,” the report said. Quoting Public Health Minister Anne Milton, the report said: "This measure will protect the public and brings HIV treatment in to line with all other infectious diseases. Treating people with HIV means they are very unlikely to pass the infection on to others." For his part, Yusef Azad, director of policy at the National Aids Trust, said in the report: "If someone is tested and treated early, it is much cheaper than them presenting themselves in hospital with a much more serious, complex condition that can cost tens of thousands of pounds to treat."   HIV, AIDS HIV causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which destroys the body’s immune system. Until now, HIV and AIDS are tagged as "incurable." However, a treatment called antiretroviral can slow down the maturity of the disease. According to the Commission on Filipino Overseas, the UK is the eighth on the list of top destinations for Filipino emigrants with 10,241 UK-based Filipinos as of 2009.  According to Philippine Department of Health data, some 271 OFWs contracted HIV in 2011, a 56 percent increase from the 174 cases reported in 2010. Filipino foreign workers also comprise 21 percent of the 8,364 listed cases of HIV and AIDS as of the end of 2011. - VVP, GMA News