MPs kick off National HIV Testing Week at the Trust
Three black MPs – Janet Daby, Florence Eshalomi and Bell Ribeiro-Addy – kicked off National HIV Testing Week with a visit to University Hospital Lewisham on Friday. Accompanied by Richard Angell, Campaigns Director at the Terrence Higgins Trust, they met members of the Alexis Clinic and Emergency Department teams to hear about the success of our HIV testing programme.
With support from the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Trust has been successfully piloting ‘opt-out’ HIV testing in our Emergency Departments, offering everyone needing a blood test an HIV test too. The three MPs represent areas of London with some of the highest prevalence of HIV in the country (Lewisham, Streatham and Vauxhall).
Opt-out HIV testing, which is also carried out at King’s College Foundation NHS Trust and Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, has diagnosed huge numbers of people, in particular those from south London’s Black African and Black Caribbean communities. These populations have often been let down by traditional testing methods and are the most likely to be diagnosed late – with 59% of all first- time diagnoses in Black African people coming at a late stage, compared to 42% across all groups.
Janet Daby, MP for Lewisham East, said: “It’s brilliant to see Lewisham leading the way in tackling health inequalities. Not only have Lewisham residents been receiving an enhanced service and opt-out HIV testing, others across London, Brighton and Manchester are following our example.”
Florence Eshalomi, MP for Vauxhall and co-chair of the APPG on HIV & AIDS, said: “The opt-out approach to HIV testing clearly works and I look forward to seeing it go London wide soon. But we can’t stop there and it’s important this game changing approach to HIV testing is rolled out across the country to ensure equity of progress for all affected by HIV.”
Bell Ribeiro-Addy, MP for Streatham, said: “No one can be left behind when it comes to reaching the Government’s goal of ending new HIV cases by 2030, and opt-out HIV testing is a vital part of this. The evidence speaks for itself with more women, heterosexuals and people of Black African and Black Caribbean heritage diagnosed via this approach than in sexual health services.”
Dr Melanie Rosenvinge, Consultant in GU Medicine at University Hospital Lewisham, said: “We are proud to be leading the way on opt-out HIV testing, even more proud that people are following our example. At University Hospital Lewisham, the programme has diagnosed 52 people and returned to care another 85. It was a pleasure to be able to showcase this service to parliamentary advocates for better HIV testing and treatment and the oldest HIV charity in Europe, Terrence Higgins Trust.”
National HIV Testing Week is a collaboration between Terrence Higgins Trust and the Department for Health and Social Care to increase HIV testing among those who are sexually active. During this period, free and easy home self-sampling HIV testing is available from www.startswithme.org.uk.
Richard Angell, Campaigns Director, Terrence Higgins Trust said: “There is lots of support whatever your result. HIV treatment stops the virus attacking your immune system and the drug PrEP is available to prevent HIV transmission.”
Watch this short video of the visit, featuring the MPs talking to HIV Consultants Dr Melanie Rosenvinge and Dr Charles Mazhude, Clinical Nurse Specialists Lucy Wood, Faith Odong and Tina Ibe, and Emergency Department Matron Carol Spanswick: