Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) is leading a partnership with NHS Liverpool Community Health, the Health Protection Agency, Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Liverpool John Moores University, to offer a free, while you wait HIV testing service to anyone in Liverpool on 1, 2 and 3 December, on a drop-in basis with a result in 20 minutes.
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Coinciding with world AIDS day on 1 December, this initiative is part of a global effort to tackle HIV and is particularly relevant to the theme of World AIDS Day 2009, which is ‘transforming the UK’s response to HIV’.
As a recognised leader in supporting rapid HIV testing in resource poor countries, LSTM has adapted a model developed by a Kenya-based organisation called Liverpool VCT. This new technology is now being used in Liverpool for the first time, partly in response to research by the National AIDS Trust, which demonstrates that public knowledge and understanding about HIV in the UK is declining.
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Dr Miriam Taegtmayer of LSTM said: “Over 80,000 people in the UK are now living with HIV, with over a quarter unaware of their HIV status. New infections continue to increase every year and if you think you are at risk of infection it is important to take an HIV test as soon as possible. Treatment for HIV is improving and this free service gives people the opportunity to have an HIV test and get the result within 20 minutes.”
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Pauline Jelliman, Specialist HIV Nurse for NHS Liverpool Community Health, said: “Being diagnosed with HIV should not be perceived as a death sentence. Many people are living with HIV and leading normal lives. However, it is vital that HIV is diagnosed early to enable the person to make lifestyle choices, be effectively monitored, and offered treatment which will keep them well. We would urge anyone who fears they may have been exposed to HIV in the past, or recently, to think about getting tested so that they can either put their mind at rest if the test is negative or access help and support if it proves positive.”
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