The Socialist 9 August 2016

Stand firm for socialism

#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism

Liverpool: Corbyn slams "politics of the elite"

Wallasey Labour meet in resistance to the Blairites

Mood for unity but not with right-wing Labour infiltrators

Thousands attend Corbyn rally in Cornwall

Bristol: Jeremy Corbyn wins support from young people

Hull: Jeremy Corbyn rally the biggest for 20 years

Jeremy Corbyn attracts 1,000 in York

Fresh bank crash looms

No to new grammars

Fight to defend HIV drug victory

UK wage drop as bad as Greece

Privatised medical record chaos

Them & Us

Grunwick strike 40 years on - lessons of an epic battle

Fawley strike defeats 'race to bottom' exploitation of migrant workers

Low paid cleaners declare victory after 58 days on strike

Samworth Brothers step up bullying and intimidation of workers

Communication Workers Union backs Jeremy Corbyn

HMY Radford shopfitters strike against penny-pinching company

South Wales NUM supports Jeremy Corbyn

Paul Reilly for RMT EC

2011 riots: An outpouring of anger at the system

Axe the Housing Act: 'We can't pay, we'll organise and we'll stay'

Great reception in Hackney for Chicago 'Black Lives Matter' socialist

South London #BlackLivesMatter protest marches on Downing Street

Leeds Pride 2016: Pride must be political!

Sanctioned - a victim of government callousness

Food waste - the logic of capitalism

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Fight to defend HIV drug victory

Anti-HIV 'PrEP' drugs could prevent thousands of new cases, photo by Jeffrey Beall (Creative Commons) (Click to enlarge)

Michael Johnson, Socialist Party LGBT group

The recent High Court ruling that the NHS should fund anti-HIV 'pre-exposure prophylaxis' (PrEP) drugs (pictured) has been widely celebrated. However, NHS bosses have vowed to appeal.

PrEP is taken prior to sex by people who do not have HIV. An NHS study has shown it can reduce risk of HIV transfer by 86%. Diagnoses of HIV are increasing. Over 100,000 currently live with it in the UK. Access to this medication could have a hugely positive impact.

NHS bosses have claimed that funding PrEP would make it unable to fund treatments for other vulnerable groups, such as cataract surgery for older people. This is a cynical attempt to turn patients against each other over who is more 'deserving' of health care.

The NHS is struggling for funding. This is not a result of patients' needs, but of constant government attacks on funding, and private companies leaching money.

Newspapers such as the Daily Mail have proclaimed PrEP a "lifestyle drug" to let gay men be promiscuous. The National Union of Journalists and others have explained that, in fact, PrEP is a vital medication for anyone at risk from HIV, of any sexual orientation and activity level.

The bigoted and inaccurate views that HIV is a 'gay disease', and that gay diseases should have lower priority, killed hundreds of thousands before the end of the 1980s. We cannot allow that again.

The Socialist Party fights for:

Access to PrEP for free on the NHS
A fully funded NHS, publicly owned and free from profiteers, to meet the needs of all patients
An end to homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism and all other forms of discrimination

In this issue

#KeepCorbyn

#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism