adminThousands of Britons with HIV are unable to afford the basic food to fight their condition as a result of the UK government’s welfare reforms, a charity has warned.The leading HIV and Aids charity in Britain, Terrence Higgins Trust, reported a 63 percent rise last year in the number of those needing emergency help due to sickness benefit cuts, the Independent on yesterday reported.
The charity also warned that the situation has forced doctors to prescribe food supplements to support those on treatment for HIV.
Sickness benefit cuts in the UK were introduced last year as part of the Tory-led government’s changes to the country’s welfare system.
However, recent findings show that the coalition’s austerity agenda has jeopardised the treatment of thousands of HIV patients in Britain, forcing them into poverty. THT’s chief executive Paul Ward said it was “nothing short of a disgrace” that HIV patients were having their treatments compromised by hunger.
Pamela Nash, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and Aids, also described the situation as “truly alarming” because of the medical importance of food to HIV patients. – Press TV.
Online Reporter