National HIV testing week 2025 

What is it?  

National HIV testing week runs from the 10th – 16th of February and calls on people to test for HIV with the aim of ending new HIV transmissions by 2030.  

Testing is free and confidential. It’s also the only way to know if you have HIV and worth doing because people can live with HIV for a long time without any symptoms. It’s easier than you think to get and take an HIV test, whether you use a sexual health clinic, a GP, or prefer the convenience of using an at-home test kit.  (Terrence Higgins Trust, 2025)  

Facts and stats 

• Bristol is an area of high HIV prevalence (2.4 per 1000 population aged 15-59). In 2019, Bristol signed up to be a Fast Track City, a global initiative to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. 
• In 2024, new HIV diagnoses in heterosexual people in England increased by 30% - this largely affected people living outside London and people of black African ethnicity. (UKHSA, 2024) 
• The proportion of people diagnosed late has increased in Bristol. There were 24 (58.5%) between 2020-22 and 27 (61.4%) late HIV diagnoses in Bristol in 2021-23. (UKHSA, 2024) 
• People diagnosed early can start HIV treatment, live a normal life expectancy and those with an undetectable HIV viral load cannot pass it on U=U: Undetectable = Untransmittable 
• Those diagnosed late were 10 times more likely to die within a year compared to those diagnosed promptly (UKHSA, 2024) 

Who should get tested? 

Whilst it’s good for anybody who is sexually active to test themselves tested for sexually transmitted diseases (STI’s) there are groups of people who are at increased risk of exposure to HIV.  

National HIV Testing Guidelines 

• People attending with an HIV indicator condition e.g. shingles, glandular fever-like illness, unexplained lymphadenopathy / fever, chronic diarrhoea, STI 

• People of African heritage 

• Gay and bisexual men who have sex with men and their female sexual contacts 

• People reporting previous injecting drug use  

• Sex workers 

• Transgender people 

• People from a country with high HIV prevalence and their sexual contacts 

Where can people get a HIV test?  

• Free postal kit Unity Sexual Health    

• Free vending machine Unity Vending Machines 

• CAB drop-in testing at Charlotte Keel and Montpelier Health Centres Common Ambition Bristol for people of African and Caribbean heritage only 

• At one of the clinics below during HIV testing week (see table at the end of this email) 

• Since 1st October 2024, anyone from across BNSSG attending Bristol Emergency Departments having a blood test will be tested for HIV and hepatitis B and C unless they opt-out NHS England