EU Consultations: LGBTIQ+ & Gender Equality, EU4Health and Safe Hearts
Over the past year, HIV Outcomes has contributed to four important European Commission consultations:
European Cardiovascular Health Plan: The Safe Hearts Plan
Together, these consultations represent an opportunity to ensure that HIV is integrated across broader health, equality and social policies at the EU level, reflecting our Policy Asks.
HIV Outcomes’ submissions called for a person-centred approach to care. HIV treatment should go beyond viral suppression and address various aspects quality of life throughout the life course. HIV Outcomes called for the inclusion of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures in policy monitoring and evaluation, exemplifying that health encompasses, mental health, social participation and sexual health.
A key theme across the equality consultations was intersectionality. People living with HIV often experience overlapping forms of vulnerability linked to gender, sexuality, migration status, age and ethnicity. Currently, the political and social environment fails to recognise these intersecting realities, which risks further discrimination and isolating these communities. HIV Outcomes therefore called for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections to be explicitly considered within both the Gender Equality Strategy and the LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy, ensuring that health inequalities and barriers to care are addressed in a comprehensive way.
In our response to the EU4Health 2026 Work Programme survey, HIV Outcomes emphasised that HIV remains a persistent public health challenge across Europe and should be recognised as a priority within future EU health programmes. We called for stronger investment in integrated, person-centred care models that address HIV alongside non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and mental health conditions. Our response also highlighted the need for sustainable support for community-based organisations, improved health data systems and greater focus on long-term health outcomes and quality of life.
Our response to the Cardiovascular Health Plan focused on the growing relationship between HIV and cardiovascular disease. As people living with HIV are living longer, cardiovascular conditions have become an increasingly important component of long-term health. HIV Outcomes called on policymakers to recognise HIV as a cardiovascular risk factor, strengthen monitoring of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and integrate cardiovascular prevention and screening into routine HIV care. Such measures would help ensure that prevention strategies reach populations at increased risk and support healthier ageing across Europe.
These consultation responses reflect HIV Outcomes’ commitment to ensuring that HIV remains visible across Europe’s evolving policy landscape. Policies are most effective when they recognise the full realities of people’s lives, especially those who live with long-term health conditions such as HIV.
