Sir Elton John is set to address MPs at the Houses of Parliament to urge the UK government to do more in the fight against HIV. Sir Elton calls for more effort to reach the 2030 target of eliminating new HIV cases in England, and more funding for pioneering new testing schemes. The opt-out testing pilot, costing £20m, is taking place in London, Greater Manchester, Sussex, and Blackpool. Anyone having a blood test in the selected hospital A&E units have also been tested for HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C unless they opted out. The trial identified over 3,500 cases of the three infections since April 2022, including more than 580 HIV cases.
Campaigners have been calling for the government to expand the testing to areas classed as having high prevalence, but so far, neither the government nor Labour have committed to providing the extra funding, which is estimated to reach around £25m a year. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency, which initiated the pilots, believes that opt-out testing is more likely to lead to early diagnosis, which could save the NHS money in the long term.
Conservative MP Steve Brine, who set the government’s target of eliminating new HIV cases by 2030 when he was a health minister, stresses that this target will not be hit unless opt-out testing is rolled out to more areas. The all-party parliamentary group for HIV and Aids has organized Sir Elton John’s upcoming appearance in Parliament. They are calling on the government to double down on efforts to reach the 2030 aim.
Sir Elton John, whose Aids Foundation played a pivotal role in pioneering opt-out testing, is expected to specifically mention it in his speech at the World Aids Day event in Parliament. In attendance will be MPs and other activists alike. The UK government is pleased with the outcome of the opt-out pilots, but the initial cost of rolling it out to further areas means that no decision has yet been confirmed
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