Calls for integrated approach to the commissioning of HIV testing services

Parliamentarians and HIV advocates call for greater collaboration between local authorities, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS England for an integrated approach to the commissioning of HIV testing services.

The Halve It campaign and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS organised a Halfway to World Aids Day Event in parliament today (July 7), bringing MPs, peers and advocates together to tackle the continued public health challenges around HIV testing.

Halve It is a coalition of 31 HIV organisations working with all levels of government and the NHS to halve the proportion of people undiagnosed and late diagnosed with HIV by 2020.

Most recent figures show there has been a 37% reduction in late diagnosed and undiagnosed HIV since the beginning of the Halve It campaign.

The event brought wide variety of audience members including Halve It Steering Group members and supporters from clinical, commissioning, peer support and advocacy backgrounds.

The panel session included key speakers who have played a fundamental role throughout the course of the Halve It campaign and was chaired by long-standing Halve It supporter and Vice-Chair of the All Parties Parliamentary Group on HIV & AIDS, Stuart Andrew MP who pledged his support for “collaborative commissioning between all stakeholders involved in HIV testing services.”

Speakers included Public Health England who discussed the epidemiology of HIV in the UK, British HIV Association who gave a clinical perspective on testing and the National AIDS Trust (NAT) who demonstrated how this information can be turned into policy and action.

Deborah Gold from NAT summed up the event as “an excellent opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the coalition and the wider HIV community” and called for “a more joined up approach to HIV testing services” to demonstrate that together we can halve it.