National AIDS Trust Calls For 'Opt-Out' HIV Testing In Sexual Health Clinics, UK
The National AIDS is calling in Sexual Health Week for action to be taken to tackle the unacceptably high number of people who remain unaware they have HIV even after visiting a sexual health clinic.
The number of gay men whose HIV infection remains undiagnosed even after attending a sexual health clinic is particularly high, at 43%.
The Government's National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV set a target of reducing by 50% the proportion of people infected with HIV who remain unaware of their HIV infection after visiting a sexual health clinic by the end of 2007. In 2001 55% of gay men with undiagnosed HIV remained unaware of their infection after visiting a sexual health clinic - by the end of 2005 (the most recent statistics available) this had declined only slightly to 43% and it now seems very unlikely the Government's target of 27.5% will be reached by the end of the year.
The statistics for heterosexuals visiting sexual health clinics are more encouraging, with the percentage of heterosexuals with HIV leaving sexual health clinics undiagnosed declining from 48% in 2001 to 27% by the end of 2005, indicating that the Government's target of 24% by the end of 2007 should be reached. However this percentage is still too high at a time when one in three people living with HIV is unaware of their status.
The National AIDS Trust is therefore calling on the Department of Health to introduce routine opt-out HIV screening as an automatic part of the general sexual health 'screen' in sexual health/GU clinics. Currently many sexual health clinics offer HIV as an 'opt-in' test, which means many people receiving testing and treatment for other STIs are not necessarily being tested for HIV.
Deborah Jack, Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, comments:
"It is vital that people living with HIV are diagnosed as early as possible, both for the sake of their own health and to prevent the virus being passed onto others. It is estimated that there are over 20,000 people with HIV in the UK who have not yet been diagnosed. Making an HIV test a routine part of a sexual health check-up could really help to reduce these numbers, particularly among gay men."
The National AIDS Trust (NAT) is the UK's leading independent policy and campaigning voice on HIV and AIDS. It aims to prevent the spread of HIV, encourage early diagnosis, ensure people living with HIV have access to treatment and care, and eradicate HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
www.nat.org.uk
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