Finalist
No Longer Systematically Excluded and Ignored: Prioritising Women in the National HIV Response
by Incisive Health for Gilead
Summary of work
In many ways, the UK’s response to the HIV epidemic has been world-leading. However, for too long, women affected by HIV have been overlooked and under-prioritised by policymakers. Change was well overdue.
Incisive Health supported Gilead to work closely with the HIV community to ensure the needs of women affected by HIV were explicitly recognised in the new HIV Action Plan, due to be published in 2025. A conciliatory approach wouldn’t achieve the required change – we had to be bold. We implemented a three-phase strategy, to listen to a diverse range of women affected by HIV; spotlight their experiences in Westminster and beyond; and embed our recommendations for change in practice across the country.
The impact of our work is tangible. The HIV Action Plan for England, 2025 to 2030 cites our Systematically excluded and ignored policy report as a key piece of evidence. For the first time, the Government has committed to a specific action to “ensure all women living with HIV are supported to manage their needs”, with sub-commitments aligned to each of our recommendations.
The feedback from the community has been universally positive. Finally, HIV is being treated as a women’s health issue.
Judges’ comments
An important issue was identified by Incisive Health and Gilead with a clear opportunity to make policy progress. It was positive to see strong partnership from the beginning, with a clear programme delivering strong outputs and outcomes. It achieved its key outcome, and on a fairly limited budget.
