Why Now is the Perfect Time to Think About Getting an HIV test
It’s National HIV Testing Week from 10 − 16 February 2025, and it’s a great time for all of us to consider getting tested for HIV – whether it’s for the first time, or we’ve done it before.
So much progress has been made around HIV. Treatment is now so effective that people who are diagnosed quickly and go on treatment can expect to live as long as anyone else. And, when someone living with HIV is on effective treatment, they cannot pass on the virus to their partner.
Unfortunately, despite this progress, too many people are finding out late after they’ve had HIV for a while, when HIV has already started to damage their immune system. Just over 900 people were diagnosed late in 2023. If diagnosed earlier, evidence shows that getting on to treatment straight away means less problems long-term.
It’s estimated that 4,700 people are living with undiagnosed HIV in the UK and National HIV Testing Week is a great opportunity for us to do something about it.
There are many ways to get tested: at a sexual health clinic, by ordering an online test kit, at your GP, or at a community pop-up testing site.
Takudzwa Mukiwa is Head of HIV Prevention at Terrence Higgins Trust, the country’s leading HIV charity. Talking to Keep the Faith, he said,
One of the challenges is that testing amongst heterosexuals remains lower than the levels we had managed to reach before Covid. This means that progress in reaching those with undiagnosed HIV is going much slower for heterosexuals.
For this National HIV Testing Week, we would really love to see the involvement of people of different faiths in the promotion of the importance of testing for HIV. We know that some testing is going to be happening in churches and other places of worship, and it would be great if more can help spread the message and get more people tested. One of the barriers that stops people getting tested is stigma around HIV. People of faith can play a huge role in addressing this through compassion and challenging outdated understandings of HIV.
You can order a free HIV test today from www.freetesting.hiv
