The Positive Allies charter shows that an organisation is friendly towards, and inclusive of, people living with HIV and that the organisation actively challenges HIV stigma.

Warwick has been successful at achieving Level One of the charter. The Positive Allies panel were particularly pleased with the evidence of a strong ethos toward equality and diversity within the organisation.

Public Health England reports that Coventry, West Midlands, has amongst the highest diagnosed HIV prevalence per 1,000 population aged 15-59 of that in 16 other similar local authorities.

“The diagnosed prevalence per 1,000 residents aged 15-59 years was 3.2, worse than 2.4 per 1,000 in England. The rank of Coventry was 34th highest (out of 147 UTLAs/UAs). Since 2017, the change in Coventry was 0%; in the 5 years since 2013, the increase was 3%.”

Learn more about HIV in the UK

In 2018, an estimated 103,800 people are living with HIV in the UK, (according to the Terrence Higgins Trust). Of those, 69% are men and 31% are women. In the UK, HIV status is covered by the Equality Act 2010.

The experiences of people living with HIV in the United Kingdom reveal worrying trends. The UK Stigma Survey (2015) found that:

• A significant proportion of respondents felt stigmatised and had experienced HIV-related discrimination at work.
• This had a substantial effect on wellbeing; with around half reporting feelings of shame, guilt or self-blame in relation to their HIV status in the last year, while one in five reported having felt suicidal.
• Despite being a named condition in the Equality Act, a fifth of respondents who had disclosed their HIV positive status at work had experienced discrimination in their current or previous job.
• 12% of participants had decided not to apply for or turned down, employment or a promotion due to their HIV status.
• 41 people in the study reported losing their job or another source of income due to their HIV status in the last twelve months, and one in nine reported being denied insurance products (for example, job protection) in the last year, which is illegal.
• Over half (52%) of working respondents reported they had told no one in their workplace about their HIV status (Stigma Survey, 2015).

Therefore, over the next 12 months we commit to:

• Continue to raise awareness of the impact of stigma and discrimination for people living with HIV.
• Encourage staff to share disabilities to ensure adequate support is provided with referrals to Occupational Health where necessary.
• Encourage staff to complete My Adjustment Passport to facilitate a conversation with their line manager should they require any additional support or adjustments.
• Continue to encourage staff to complete the HIV and AIDS Awareness Training provided by University of Sunderland (on completion please send your certificate to Claire Algar, ED&I Officer at ).
• Challenge discrimination in recruitment, promotion, and progression for people living with HIV.
• Ensure staff and students are aware of testing centres in Coventry and surrounding areas.
• Promote campaigns such as World Aids Day.
• Engage with local community groups and charities in Coventry and surrounding areas.

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