Ahead of England’s fourth annual National HIV Testing Week, which will feature on buses travelling across Birmingham, new figures released this week by Public Health England (PHE) reveal there were 10 per cent more diagnoses in the West Midlands in 2014 compared to 2013, showing HIV testing is working.
The new figures show there were 425 people newly diagnosed in the West Midlands in 2014, an increase of 10 per cent on the previous year. The total number of people accessing HIV care in the region was 5,792.
In the West Midlands 425 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in 2014, which is up from 379 in 2013 showing more people are getting tested in the region.
6,151 people were newly diagnosed in the UK in 2014. This figure was 6,032 in 2013 and 6,353 in 2010 (7,893 in 2005), 75 of new diagnoses were in men, 25 per cent in women.
Tom Greenwood, Terrence Higgins Trust Birmingham Manager Midlands said:
“The rise in diagnosis in the West Midlands is really encouraging. This means that more people are getting tested. HIV testing is key to prevention.
“If we are going to reduce the number of people who have HIV and don’t know it, and as result the unwitting transmission of HIV we need the number of people diagnosed to further increase. We can only achieve this through more testing. That’s why National HIV Testing Week is so important.
“If you test positive, early detection, monitoring and effective treatment means that your life largely carries on as before. Late diagnosis can cause serious health problems, and early death.”
National HIV Testing Week Ambassador Dr Christian Jessen said:
“I am proud to be the National HIV Testing Week Ambassador. Testing for HIV is crucial for prevention.
“If someone tests positive for HIV, they are now immediately put on treatment because we know that is the best thing to do to preserve the person’s health. And if someone is on medication and ‘undetectable’ and they cannot pass on the virus to others”
“The fact that diagnoses have increased is encouraging in one sense. If you get tested and receive a positive diagnosis, you can now immediately go onto treatment, and if you are on medication you are classed as ‘undetectable’ and cannot pass on the virus.
“Most concerning to me is the fact that one in six nationally do not realise they have it, so they are putting their own health at risk and HIV could unknowingly be passed on.”
Undiagnosed infection is widely recognised as a key factor driving the UK’s HIV epidemic. If HIV remains undiagnosed it is much more likely to be pass the virus on unwittingly than someone who has tested and is on treatment.
HIV testing is free, fast, confidential and has never been easier. You can test in a hospital, sexual health clinic, at a community event, by post, or even at home.
National HIV Testing Week is part of HIV Prevention England – a partnership of community organisations, funded by Public Health England and coordinated by Terrence Higgins Trust. This joint prevention effort speaks directly to most affected communities about the importance of HIV testing, taking treatment (if you have HIV), and using condoms.
