Announcements

NEW CHAIR ELECTED TO THE APPG ON HIV & AIDS

Date: 10-06-2010

David Cairns - MP for Inverclyde since 2001 and a former Labour Minister – is now the new Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS.

The elected Vice Chairs of the group are:

•       Lord Fowler (Conservative), ex-Secretary of State for Health and long-term supporter of the APPG on HIV and AIDS.

•       Russell Brown MP (Labour) – Vice-Chair before the election and is the only MP to carry over his post at the APPG after the election.

•       Simon Kirby MP (Conservative) – the newly elected MP for Brighton Kemptown.

•       Pauline Latham MP (Conservative) – the newly elected MP for Mid-Derbyshire.

•       Baroness Masham (Crossbench) – who has been a Vice Chair of the Group since it was founded in 1986.

David Cairns has lost no time in embracing his new role. He used his first speech in parliament after the election to speak out against “the wind of oppression” against sexual minorities in Africa and the “utterly disastrous effect” it is having on HIV and AIDS. The full speech can be found here.

The AHPN welcomes this development and will of course write to and meet the new APPG chair and its members, welcoming and congratulating them, whilst ensuring our support for the tasks and challenges ahead. If you are interested to join any meeting with the APPG members, please email me. The AHPN also acknowledges the hard work put into supporting this group by its adviser, Veronica Oakeshott.

In addition to the officers, the Group also attracted new members from across the House, with new Lib Dem MPs and the UK's only Green MP already signed up. The group also formally adopted a new name– The All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS. You can find out more about the group here.

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