Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, is supporting a campaign to get more people checked for HIV on National HIV Testing Week 2024 after helping secure the rollout of opt-out HIV testing at Milton Keynes University Hospital last year.
National HIV Testing Week runs all of this week with free at-home test kits available to anyone over 16 in England as part of the Government's commitment to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030.
This is part of HIV Prevention England, which is coordinated by Terrance Higgins Trust on the behalf of the Department of Health.
According to latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), HIV testing rates among heterosexual women via sexual health services are 19% lower than in 2019, while rates among heterosexual men are even lower with a fall of a third (33%) over the same period. That’s why National HIV Testing Week focuses on normalising regularly testing for HIV with free test kits available to order via freetesting.hiv.
National HIV Testing Week focuses on showing how easy it now is to test for HIV, particularly among those from groups most affected by HIV in the UK, including gay and bisexual men and people of black African ethnicity.
Last year Ben successfully campaigned for the Government's opt-out HIV testing programme to be expanded to Milton Keynes University Hospital, which aims to test people attending emergency departments who are having a blood test, regardless of symptoms.
While testing rates are higher than ever before among gay and bisexual men, testing rates have fallen by 20% in heterosexual men of black African ethnicity and 6% in heterosexual women of black African ethnicity when compared to 2019.
That’s why this week’s opportunity to test for free at home is vital, with the option to choose between self-testing and a result within 15 minutes, or self-sampling where you send off a small blood sample to the lab.
Testing is the only way to know if you have HIV. Most people get a negative result and then can make a decision about how to stay that way. While those who are diagnosed can start treatment to stay healthy and, once levels of HIV in the blood reach undetectable levels, can’t pass HIV on to partners.
Alongside free test kits being available during National HIV Testing Week, there are also testing events and drop-ins happening across England.
Increasing testing in all groups is a crucial part of the Government’s goal to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030.
Please visit the following links to find free HIV test kits today and information about in-person testing.
Order your free HIV tests kit today
Information about where to get tested
More information, including information on protection and treatment, can be found here.
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said: "Testing for HIV is absolutely vital to our goal of ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 and that's why I was delighted we secured the expansion of opt-out HIV testing to Milton Keynes University Hospital last year.
"HIV Testing Week 2024 is a great opportunity to highlight the opportunity to order free HIV testing kits to your home so we can get more people tested."
Takudzwa Mukiwa, Head of Health Programmes at Terrance Higgins Trust, added: "It’s brilliant to see HIV testing at a record high among gay and bisexual men, but we need to see HIV testing levels among heterosexuals back up to where they were before COVID-19 and even higher too. Making sure that everyone with HIV is diagnosed and getting treatment is important to achieving our goal of ending new HIV transmissions in the UK by 2030. Most people will get a negative result, but it’s important to get tested and know your status.
‛It’s concerning to see testing rates among people of black African ethnicity – one of the groups most impacted by HIV in the UK – are still lower than before COVID-19. This is exacerbated by that fact that a quarter of black African men and third of black African women are not offered an HIV test when they attend a sexual health clinic. That needs to change and quickly. Because in order to end new HIV transmissions in this country, no one can be left behind."
Andrea Leadsom, Primary Care Minister, said: "HIV is most commonly spread by people who don’t know their status, so I encourage everyone to get tested as this is the first step to ending new HIV transmissions. Testing is quick, free and confidential, and is now even more convenient with the options of both self-sampling and self-testing.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, NHS England has invested £20 million in opt-out testing in emergency departments in areas of extremely high HIV prevalence, to ensure people get the right treatment as early as possible.
‛Given the programme’s success in diagnosing more than 3,000 people with a blood-borne virus over the first 18 months, we have announced an additional £20 million to fund research which will evaluate the expansion of the programme to 47 new sites across England."
