Framework for better living with HIV in England

1 Introduction and overview 1.1 The goal, purpose and scope of the framework This framework is the first of its kind in the UK. It describes the shared aspirations of a group of agencies for the lives of people diagnosed with HIV in England. The overarching goal of the framework is: All people with HIV are enabled to have the maximum level of health, well-being, quality of life and social integration. This is no less than the majority of people in the country expect for themselves. However, numerous obstacles prevent people with HIV from achieving this goal. These obstacles are not about having the virus but about how people with the virus are treated. This overarching goal is the situation we want to bring about. We detail this goal in seventeen subsidiary goals (what we want to happen). Each of these has a number of related aims and target groups (what we want individuals and groups to do to bring about the goal). The framework starts with the individual and seeks to bring about the conditions most favourable to individual self-determination and self-empowerment. The purpose of the framework is to: • Promote and protect the rights and well-being of all people with HIV in England. • Maximise the capacity of individuals and groups of people with HIV to care for, advocate and represent themselves effectively. • Improve and protect access to appropriate, effective and sufficient information, social support and social care services. • Minimise social, economic, governmental and judicial change detrimental to the rights and well-being of people with HIV. • Build consensus among those with a responsibility for promoting the well-being and rights of people with HIV. • Provide benchmarks against which the activities of a range of key stakeholders can be assessed, critiqued and coordinated. The framework does not describe all the activities of the organisations represented in the Framework Development Group (see section 1.4). Nor can these organisations undertake all the interventions necessary within the framework. Rather, the framework seeks to mobilise and coordinate the actions of a broad range of individuals and groups, from people with HIV themselves to government ministers. The framework primarily seeks to benefit people with diagnosed HIV infection. It is concerned with the health and well-being of those diagnosed with HIV and not those with undiagnosed HIV or those who might become infected (HIV prevention).As we are concerned with the lives of people with HIV after diagnosis, this framework is not focused on increasing HIV testing or HIV diagnosis nor does it attend to the needs of the broader population affected by HIV except where they relate to people with diagnosed HIV