As part of National HIV Testing week (7 – 14 February), Bedford and Kempston MP, Mohammad Yasin joined other local leaders to raise awareness of the importance of regular testing, calling on people across the country to ‘give HIV the finger’.
On Saturday, Mr Yasin visited a clinic in Bedford to be given a free, routine HIV test, encouraging others to do the same – particularly those from groups most affected by HIV, including gay and bisexual men and black African men and women.
To mark the week, Bedford Borough Council is working alongside HIV Prevention England to provide free HIV home sampling kits to local residents.
You can order a free confidential home sampling kit online here.
“My constituency of Bedford and Kempston falls into a high prevalence tier, with a case rate at 2.58 per 1,000 people aged 15 to 59 in 2020,” said Mr Yasin.
“HIV is a manageable disease with great outcomes if treated, but one in 20 people with HIV are unaware that they have it.
“If the country is going to meet its goal of no new cases of HIV by 2030, it cannot wait for people to come forward. HIV testing must become routine in the NHS.
“That’s why I wrote to the Health Secretary to ask him to commit to levelling up funding for areas with ‘high prevalence’ areas like Bedford, so we too can benefit from the opt-out testing initiatives available in ‘very high prevalence’ HIV areas, like London.”
Nowadays, people can live with HIV for a long time without any symptoms, so testing is the only way to know your status.
The sooner someone is diagnosed, the sooner they can get on treatment if needed and avoid passing the virus on to anyone else.
“We’ve made incredible advancements in the UK in the fight against HIV which means that testing is no longer something that should be feared,” he said.
“Today, if you test positive, effective treatment means you cannot pass on the virus and can expect to live as long as anyone else.”
“This National HIV Testing Week we want to encourage everyone to test for HIV and know their status,” said Richard Angell, campaigns director of Terrence Higgins Trust.
“This knowledge is key to getting on treatment quickly or learning the best way to stay negative with condoms or PrEP, the HIV prevention drug.”
There are a range of sexual health services available across Bedford Borough that provide free, non-judgemental and confidential HIV testing. You can find a clinic near you by visiting the iCash website.
