World AIDS Day 2024: Push to get tested in the South West

This World AIDS Day (Sunday 1 December), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) South West is urging residents to get tested regularly for HIV. While HIV testing in the South West overall increased in 2023 compared to 2022 (73,552 in 2022 to 81,813 in 2023) it remains lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Testing in sexual health clinics in the South West has increased by 18% since 2019 in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) (from 9,876 in 2019 to 11,612 in 2023), however testing has fallen in heterosexual men by 65% (from 33,637 in 2019 to 11,612 in 2023) and in heterosexual and bisexual women by 25% (from 48,020 in 2019 to 35,930 in 2023).

Overall, the number of HIV diagnoses first made in the South West has doubled from 221 in 2022 to 447 in 2023. UKHSA is working with partners to further explore the reasons for this rise in new diagnoses. Contributing factors may include clinics not reporting some diagnoses which have been previously diagnosed abroad, people continuing HIV care in the UK, or underlying transmission.

Knowing your status

Regular HIV testing is vital to help prevent new infections. It allows people to have access to prevention interventions (such as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, PrEP) and ensures timely access to treatment that saves lives and prevents the virus being passed on.

Initiatives are being introduced across the South West to improve testing rates for HIV and other bloodborne viruses. North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) are offering tests for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C to everyone over 18-years-old who is having blood taken in emergency departments.  

Getting tested is the only way to know if you have HIV, and that knowledge is vital so you can get the right support and treatment for your own health. People living with HIV who are on treatment and have a fully supressed viral load have a zero risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners.

In England, HIV and wider STI testing is free, confidential, and more convenient than ever, including online self-sampling services. This means you can take samples in the comfort and privacy of your own home and then send the kit away to get your results. You can also find a local sexual health service on the NHS website via their sexual health service locator.

Gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men (GBMSM) and black African men and women are disproportionately at risk of acquiring HIV, which is why knowing your status is one of the most powerful tools you can have for your own health, and to help in the fight ending HIV.

It’s important for those eligible to take up the offer of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) if you are at risk from HIV (for example having sex with new or casual partners). PrEP is a small tablet that with consistent use can stop someone from getting HIV during sex.

Mark McNally, South West Sexual Health Facilitator at UKHSA, said:

“It is clear that more action is needed to curb new HIV transmissions. Addressing these widening inequalities, ramping up testing, improving access to PrEP and getting people started on HIV treatment earlier will all be crucial to achieving this.

“HIV can affect anyone, no matter your gender or sexual orientation, so please get regularly tested and use condoms to protect you and your partners’ health. A HIV test is free and provides access to HIV PrEP if needed. If you do test positive, treatment is so effective that you can expect to live a long healthy life and you won’t pass HIV on to partners.”

Professor Maggie Rae CBE, Regional Deputy Director of Public Health (SW Region), said:

“Detecting HIV early allows safe and effective treatment to start sooner and those diagnosed can expect to have a life expectancy almost matching that of people who are HIV free.

“Safe sex, PrEP and regular testing are important to preventing future transmission. Since HIV PrEP was commissioned by the NHS in autumn 2020, the number of people taking PrEP in the South West has increased annually.”

Dr. Joanna Copping, Consultant in Public Health Medicine at Bristol City Council, said:

“We are committed to ending new HIV transmissions in Bristol. Addressing the ongoing stigma that stops people from testing is key to achieving this. We urge people to consider the messages within this fantastic campaign and to come forward for HIV testing. Early diagnosis prevents transmission and saves lives.”