Get ready for National HIV Testing Week 2017

National HIV Testing Week (NHTW) starts on Saturday 18 November 2017. The purpose of the week is to promote regular testing among the most affected population groups and to reduce the rates of undiagnosed people and those diagnosed late.

In the UK, people are testing more, staying protected by using condoms and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), getting diagnosed and starting HIV treatment earlier. Thanks to this combination approach, the UK is witnessing a substantial decline in HIV diagnoses.

However, while rates of late diagnosis have reduced, especially among MSM, too many are still diagnosed, especially among heterosexual men and women (PHE, 2017).

National HIV Testing Week puts a national spotlight on HIV testing

National HIV Testing Week provides amplified opportunities for individuals who would otherwise never test to do so, and prompts all individuals at risk to get tested.

Last year hundreds of clinics and organisations participated by raising awareness, providing extra testing opportunities and promoting services – with many using the free and customisable printed and digital resources provided by HIV Prevention England.

How to get involved

We encourage you to do whatever is best for your local area and community. Here are some ideas.

  • Order and use National HIV Testing Week branded posters and resources in your service. (Available from Monday 16 October 2017.)
  • Organise local testing events in clinic and as part of outreach in community settings.
  • Register the testing events you have scheduled for November through our online ‘Test Finder’ tool. This will be promoted to people at high risk in your local area via online promotion.
  • Share, repost and retweet National HIV Testing Week social media content to all public networks, and use the social media pack on our website to customise your posts.

For full details on how to take part, see the campaign briefings below.

Campaign briefing for Commissioners, Directors of Public Health, lead Councillors and Health and Wellbeing Boards [PDF] Campaign briefing for clinicians and other primary care professionals [PDF]

 

Campaign briefing for HIV and other community-based organisations [PDF] Campaign briefing for Faith Leaders and communities [PDF]

Support We Started Something on Facebook

If you work for a sexual health or HIV organisation, or a Local Authority Public Health team, you can use these suggested Facebook posts to support the We Started Something campaign.

We Started Something is the summer campaign for It Starts With Me, celebrating the progress that people have made in stopping HIV in the UK and encouraging everyone to continue to play their part.

How to use the suggested posts

1. Go to Facebook and start a new post. Copy and paste the text of one of our suggested posts, including the bit.ly link. It is important to ensure that you copy the link as it leads to a specific page relevant to the call to action of each post.

2. Download the selection of images provided and choose one to share with your post.

3. And… post!

At the bottom of this blog we’ve also included a few email banners for you to use.

Suggested post 1

In the UK we’re testing more for HIV than ever.

But still about 13% of people living with HIV in the UK are not aware they have it. Most new HIV infections come from unprotected sex with someone who doesn’t know they have HIV.

Find out if you need to test: http://bit.ly/2wgNVev

Download images for this post

Suggested post 2

The number of people living with undiagnosed HIV in the UK is the lowest ever.

Most new HIV infections come from unprotected sex with someone who doesn’t know they have HIV, so we can’t stop until everyone is diagnosed.

Find out if you need to test: http://bit.ly/2wgNVev

Download images for this post

Suggested post 3

People are starting treatment sooner than ever.

However, about 39% of adults in 2015 found out they had HIV when it may have already damaged their health. The sooner you find out you have HIV, the better it is for your health.

Find out if you need to test: http://bit.ly/2wgNVev

Download images for this post

Suggested post 4

More people with HIV are on treatment in the UK than ever before and many are now starting treatment early to protect their health and to stop them passing on HIV to others.

Find out more on how treatment is helping to stop HIV: http://bit.ly/2tTYsvk

Download images for this post

Suggested post 5

Someone on effective treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot pass on HIV to others which will help us end the epidemic once and for all.

Find out more on how treatment is helping to stop HIV: http://bit.ly/2tTYsvk

Download images for this post

Suggested post 6

Most new HIV  infections come from unprotected sex with someone who doesn’t know they have HIV – so we all need to look after ourselves. Condoms are the best barrier against HIV, other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies.

Find the best condom for you: http://bit.ly/2w126oC

Download images for this post

Suggested post 7

Most new infections come from unprotected sex with someone who doesn’t know they have HIV – so we all need to look after ourselves.  Condoms, treatment and PrEP help to protect from HIV infection.

Find out how to stay protected: http://bit.ly/2uTEbr6

Download images for this post

 

We Started Something email banners

Simply right-click the banner you prefer and choose the option to save the image to your computer.

 

Presentations from the 2017 National HIV Prevention England Conference

On 18 May 2017 HIV Prevention England (HPE) hosted its biennial national HIV prevention conference in London.

More than 300 professionals were in attendance from all over England and beyond. To date, there have been over 200 views of the event livestream.

If you missed the event or specific workshops, please see all the available presentations on our events page. If you have any questions regarding individual presentations, email us and we will get back to you.

Plenary Sessions

Workshops

  • Combination Prevention [Video]
  • HIV Prevention Innovation Fund: Project Showcase
  • Prevention for Gay and Bisexual Men
  • HIV Testing in Community Settings
  • PrEP: From Trial to Reality [Video]
  • Home Sampling and Self Testing
  • Engaging African Communities
  • Systems Approaches to Testing and Prevention

Watch the National HIV Prevention England Conference

On Thursday 18 May, HIV Prevention England hosted its biennial national HIV prevention conference in central London.

Key highlights of the conference included:

  • Overview of the changes in new diagnoses rates in London and across England; and the part which combination prevention plays on HIV incidence.
  • Update on the state of the upcoming PrEP IMPACT trial set to start in summer 2017.
  • The effect of rapid initiation of treatment on HIV transmission (Treatment as Prevention).
  • Presentation on the current state of investment in HIV prevention and testing services in England

Download the livestream programme [PDF]

If you experience any issues with the broadcast please email hpe@tht.org.uk.

Watch it Live: National HIV Prevention England Conference

More than 350 people have registered to attend our biennial national conference which will be on Thursday 18 May in central London.

If you cannot attend this exciting event in person, do not worry because we will be livestreaming the main sessions.

Key highlights

  • Overview of the changes in new diagnoses rates in London and across England; and the part which combination prevention plays on HIV incidence.
  • Update on the state of the upcoming PrEP IMPACT trial set to start in summer 2017.
  • The effect of rapid initiation of treatment on HIV transmission (Treatment as Prevention).
  • The launch of a new report by National AIDS Trust on ‘Investment in HIV prevention and testing services in England’.

If you or your colleagues are interested, please register under the ‘Livestream’ ticket option on the Eventbrite page to get an alert when we go live.

Register for the livestream

View the programme [PDF]