An estimated 4,500 persons in England are HIV positive but not yet diagnosed.
A new National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) project has been launched by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to assess the feasibility of extending the HIV opt-out testing program to other locations in England.
With £20 million in NIHR funding, the expansion has the potential to detect a large number of the 4,500 individuals living with HIV in England who are currently undiagnosed.
HIV is a virus that harms immune system cells and impairs the body’s defenses against illnesses and infections.
HIV can cause AIDS, which at this time has no known cure, if it is not treated.
The BBV opt-out testing program is being expanded to save and improve many lives.
1.5 million HIV tests, 900,000 hepatitis C tests, and 700,000 hepatitis B tests done at 33 ERs in 18 months.
The research will assess the testing program to stop new transmissions by testing people’s blood, which has previously been drawn in emergency rooms for BBVs, including HIV and hepatitis B and C. The testing program will be evaluated at 46 new locations in England. These include 32 regions with a high rate of HIV.
According to the UK government’s revised HIV Action Plan, the review will aid in achieving the government’s objectives of lowering new HIV admissions by 80% in 2025 and halting new HIV transmissions in England by 2030.
By reaching populations like women and ethnic minorities who may be disproportionately impacted by greater incidence of specific BBVs, it may also aid in addressing health disparities.
“By expanding this… opt-out scheme as part of a research project, not only are we delivering it to new parts of the country, but we can gather more useful evidence for the future,” stated Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser, DHSC, and chief executive officer, NIHR.