London (Special to ZennieReport.com) – New funding to bolster the government’s pledge to end all new transmissions of HIV within England by 2030 were announced today by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at a reception in No10 to mark World AIDS Day attended by campaigners and public health experts.
Speaking at the event ahead of World AIDS Day [1 December] the Prime Minister confirmed £27 million as part of an expanded highly successful NHS emergency department opt-out testing programme, which is expected to change and save thousands of lives.
This will support the government’s mission of ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030 – which will be driven forwards with a new HIV Action Plan – ensuring those with diagnoses can access treatment and stop onward transmission.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will say:
With this government, you will not be alone in the fight against HIV. We will stand together – for as long as it takes – both in memory of those we have lost, and in support those who are living with HIV today.
I’m determined that this generation will be the one that ends new cases of HIV within England by 2030.
At the reception the PM thanked the ongoing work of campaigners, including the Terrence Higgins Trust, National AIDS Trust and the Elton John AIDS Foundation among others. As well as vital and successful work to raise awareness of, and end the stigma around, HIV/AIDS, the charities have been instrumental in helping to shape the government’s upcoming refreshed HIV Action Plan.
To ensure targets are met, and to deliver on its manifesto commitment, the government will develop a new HIV Action Plan, due to be published in summer 2025.
NHS England’s emergency department opt-out testing programme, whereby all blood tests in emergency departments are automatically tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C unless a patient ‘opts-out’, has been hugely successful.
During the first 24 months of the bloodbourne viruses (BBVs) opt-out testing programme, 34 emergency departments conducted 2,018,943 HIV tests, 1,535,707 Hepatitis C virus tests and 1,221,961 Hepatitis B virus tests, significantly increasing the number of BBV tests conducted in England each year.
Analysis from 21 of the 34 emergency departments participating in the programme identified:
- 1,957 people were newly diagnosed with Hepatitis B
- 762 people were newly diagnosed with Hepatitis C
- 391 people with HIV (new HIV diagnoses data is only available to December 2023)
The testing is important to address health inequalities by reaching groups, such as people from ethnic minorities or women, who are less likely to attend sexual health services and may be disproportionately affected both by higher rates of some BBVs and stigma associated with BBV testing or diagnosis.
Anne Aslett, Chief Executive Officer of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, said:
Ahead of World AIDS Day, we welcome the UK government’s announcement today to provide £27 million in funding for opt-out testing in accident and emergency departments across England – an approach the Elton John AIDS Foundation first piloted with our partners in London boroughs in 2018. If we are to reach our shared goal of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030, we need to find the estimated 4,700 people living with undiagnosed HIV in the England and support the 11,000 people who are already diagnosed but who are either not in HIV care, not treated or not supported to achieve an undetectable viral load.
We are also hugely encouraged to see the government take a stand on the international stage and invest a further £37 million in the global HIV/AIDS response. Five decades on from when the AIDS epidemic started, someone still loses their life to AIDS-related causes every minute and it’s imperative that we start treating HIV like any other chronic illness and ensure that everyone has access to the prevention, care, treatment they need here in the UK and around the globe. We have the tools and the knowledge to end HIV, what we need now is investment in the right programmes and to end the stigma and discrimination that surrounds this disease if we are to finally end AIDS for all.
Robbie Currie, Chief Executive Officer at National AIDS Trust, said:
We strongly welcome the government’s confirmation of £27 million to fund continued opt-out testing for HIV in hospital emergency departments. As the figures released today illustrate, this is an effective way of making sure that people receive a timely diagnosis and are able to begin the treatment that will keep them healthy as soon as possible.
It is important to acknowledge, however, that this increase in diagnoses means that we will need to make sure that the NHS is adequately funded and equipped to offer that life-saving treatment to all, and that existing health inequalities are addressed. This will be vital, as part of the new HIV Action Plan for England, if we are going to achieve the commitment to ending new transmissions by 2030, as pledged today by the Prime Minister.
Richard Angell OBE, Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust said:
This significant investment is a brilliant first step from a government with a manifesto commitment to end new HIV cases by 2030. The programme extension will fund millions more HIV tests in England next year. 81 A&Es taking an opt-out approach to HIV testing will save lives, tackle inequalities and save money.
This is a promising sign that the government is serious when it says the new HIV Action Plan for England will get us on track to end new HIV cases by 2030. Britain might be in pole position to be first country to end the HIV epidemic but countries like France, the Netherlands and Australia are hot on our heels. We must meet our ambition with yet more action, including more funding for over-stretched sexual health services – this announcement today is a sign the government gets that.
In recognition of the UK’s leading role in work to help end transmissions globally, the Prime Minister set out new funding to tackle barriers to accessing vital sexual and reproductive healthcare, including to HIV testing, prevention and management services.
£37 million for the Grassroots and Countering Rollback, a government programme where funding will support local, national and global efforts to advance rights, and improve access to vital healthcare, including HIV services, for marginalised groups including LGBT people, adolescents and people with disabilities.
Out of this funding, £10 million will go to the Robert Carr Fund, a dedicated international fund that enables more people to access vital support, including LGBT people and women and girls who are facing barriers to information and health services, or being stigmatised or denied their rights. The Fund’s work spans across 40 countries and supports marginalised people to advocate for their rights to expand access to HIV and other sexual reproductive health services.
This is in addition to the government’s ongoing contribution to international efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS, totalling at least £497 million in 2023, which works to tackle stigma and improve testing, enable greater access to HIV prevention pill PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and better post-diagnosis support.
Health and Social Care Secretary ,Wes Streeting, said:
This government has made it our mission to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. There can be no room for complacency. If we want to stop HIV, we have to act. That’s why I am delighted we’re extending the emergency department HIV opt-out testing scheme.
Since it was first introduced, it has uncovered hundreds new diagnoses of HIV providing a vital safety net to all those infected, while helping to end the cycle of HIV transmission from one person to another.
I would like to thank all of our partners for their work in this space, and as we work together toward creating the new HIV Action Plan.
This comes as the government announced a £22 billion increase in day-to-day spending for the health system in the Budget for the NHS and supports the shift from sickness to prevention as part of the 10 Year Health Plan. The government additionally confirmed in the Budget £11.8 billion in compensation for victims of the Infected Blood Scandal, which tragically infected over 1,350 people with HIV.
NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard, said:
Opt-out testing in NHS emergency departments is detecting thousands of cases of HIV and Hepatitis B and C that may otherwise not get picked up – incredible efforts from NHS staff and partners to set up this hugely important programme mean that this testing can happen and that patients can be referred for treatment which in many cases can save their lives.
This funding will mean even more people can be tested and treated in towns and cities across England, as we work with the government, campaigners and partners towards the goal of ending all new HIV transmission, and the elimination of hepatitis C as a public health issue by 2030.
Beyond the emergency department testing programme, there are a range of ways to get tested by the NHS if you are concerned, including doing simple tests at home, so we urge anyone who could be living with HIV or hepatitis C to get checked.