Campaigners celebrate early ‘amazing results’ from routine HIV testing in A&E
Under new testing procedures, 102 people have been newly diagnosed with HIV.
The early data from HIV testing in A&E, as part of the HIV Action Plan, is showing “amazing results”, according to NHS England.
This introduction of routine HIV testing in A&E departments has been supported by the Terrence Higgins Trust, National AIDS Trust, and Elton John AIDS Foundation who campaigned for an action plan surrounding this research.
On World AIDS Day 2021, the Government announced its HIV Action Plan and £20 million in funding (from the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England) to expand opt-out testing over the course of three years.
Thank you to everyone who supported the @THTorguk @NAT_AIDS_Trust @ejaf campaigns to get an HIV Action Plan ‘worthy of its name’ and for funding.
Tests so far have had “amazing results,” according to Richard Angell, the Campaigns Director at the Terrence Higgins Trust as he shared an image from an event looking at results from the first three months of routine HIV testing in A&E units in London, Greater Manc, Brighton, and Blackpool.
There are hopes it will expand nationwide.
Between April-June 2022, 102 people have been newly diagnosed with HIV and 60 found who had been diagnosed already but who were lost to care.
Other statistics include that 328 people were newly diagnosed with Hep B (30 lost to care) and 137 people were newly diagnosed with Hep C (23 lost to care).
“Each is a life changed!” Angell remarked.
In a statement provided to Attitude Danny Beales, the Head of Policy & Campaigns at National AIDS Trust, says the early results indicate how effective routine testing is and that “the government has no excuse to drag its feet on implementing this successful pilot more widely.”
He also reiterated calls for the trial to be expanded.
“There are thought to be 4,660 people with undiagnosed HIV who are not receiving treatment. In just three months this trial has found over 100 new diagnoses. These are people who can now access life-changing and saving HIV treatment, so think of how many people we can help if this is rolled out to all the hospitals that need it.”
London’s Fast-Track Cities team – which aims “to get to zero new cases of HIV, zero deaths and zero stigma” – released a statement on Wednesday (28 September) that shares they too are also working with NHS England and in just the first hundred days of routine HIV testing in A&E departments, “220,00 tests have been done and more than 80 people have now been diagnosed with HIV.”
This initiative emphasises the need for widespread and accessible testing made available with the goal to end new HIV infections, AIDS, and HIV-related deaths.
With A&E testing, the hope is that health inequalities can be addressed; according to the HIV Commission report: “29 percent of gay and bisexual men and 54 percent of heterosexuals of Black African ethnicity were diagnosed late, a clear difference between the two most affected groups.”
Therefore, there is the encouragement that this is an opt-out rather than an opt-in testing system that needs to become routine across healthcare settings to identify cases and reduce stigma.
Present at Wednesday’s ‘Opt-out Testing in Emergency Departments: Learn and Share’ event was Professor Kevin Fenton, HIV Advisor to the UK Government, who shared plans for the further implementation of the UK’s HIV Action Plan.
Fenton shared on Twitter that he was “thrilled” to be speaking about the plan’s progress.
The government’s action plan for ending HIV aims to reach zero new transmissions of HIV by 2030, including the interim commitment to an 80 percent reduction in transmissions by 2025.
You can find out more about opt-out HIV testing here.
The Attitude September/October issue is out now.