Sir Keir Starmer has announced funding to help in the goal of stopping new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030.
The Prime Minister has pledged £27 million to expand the emergency department testing programme, in which blood tests are automatically tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C unless a patient opts out.
He also reiterated the goal of ending new cases of HIV in England in the coming years as he addressed a Downing Street reception ahead of World Aids Day on Sunday.
Sir Keir told the Downing Street reception: “I am determined that this generation will be the one that ends new cases of HIV within England by 2030.”
He went on: “We can do something about it, and it’s very pleasing to be able to say, confirming that we’ll be expanding A&E opt out HIV testing, a programme that has carried out over two million HIV tests in the last few years.
“We need to diagnose as many cases as quickly as possible, and that allows us then to give the best treatment possible and stop the virus being passed on to others.
“It’s about testing, early intervention, that opportunity to make such a difference, because at the bottom of all this, it is dignity, and that’s something I care deeply about.”
He added: “We will stand together for as long as it takes, in memory of those that we’ve lost, in support of those who are living with HIV today and with a determination for the future to be that first country in the world that ends new cases of HIV.”
According to Number 10, the first 24 months of the testing programme saw 2,018,943 HIV tests, 1,535,707 Hepatitis C virus tests and 1,221,961 Hepatitis B virus tests, across 34 emergency departments.
An HIV action plan is due to be published in summer 2025.
As part of their commitment to reduce health inequalities, Labour pledged such a plan for England, with the view to eradicating new cases.
Among the attendees at Thursday’s reception were representatives from the National Aids Trust, the Elton John Aids Foundation and the Terrence Higgins Trust.
