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Sexual health charity launches webtool to increase HIV testing in primary care

HIV testing in primary care can save lives, says MEDFASH (Medical Foundation for HIV & Sexual
Health).

With a quarter of the estimated 108,000 people living with HIV i still going undiagnosed,
MEDFASH has developed HIV Testing in Practice (HIV TIPs), an online educational tool, to help
increase rates of HIV diagnosis in primary care. Launched in National HIV Testing Week, the
interactive webtool will enable GPs, practice nurses and their teams to raise their knowledge of
HIV and enhance their confidence in offering HIV testing. This in turn will reduce the avoidable
illness and deaths that still occur because of late diagnosis.

Around two in five diagnoses in the UK are made late, at a point when treatment should already
have started ii. People diagnosed late with HIV are ten times more likely to die within a year of
diagnosis than those diagnosed early iii. They are also more likely to transmit the infection to
sexual partners while unaware of their status. In contrast, people diagnosed early with HIV and
given timely treatment can now have a near-normal life expectancy, and effective treatments can
reduce the risk of passing HIV on to a partner by up to 96% iv v.

There is evidence that people with undiagnosed HIV are presenting to healthcare providers,
including GPs, and opportunities for diagnosis are being missed vi vii. NICE guidance
recommends that all health professionals should routinely offer and recommend an HIV test to
patients at risk or presenting with certain conditions, and that in areas of high HIV prevalence
general practice should consider offering and recommending an HIV test to all newly registering
patients viii ix.

HIV TIPs will help GPs and their colleagues identify how to overcome the barriers to HIV testing
in general practice. It has been created with funding from the Department of Health by
MEDFASH, a charity which has produced a range of resources for health professionals on HIV
and sexual health. It was written by GP and medical educator, Dr Philippa Matthews, with advice
from an expert advisory group and is endorsed by the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Ruth Lowbury, Chief Executive of MEDFASH, said today: “The latest figures show that we are
making some progress in reducing the proportion of people with HIV who are diagnosed late. But
too many people are still dying unnecessarily, too many are becoming newly infected, and we
need to do much more. Early diagnosis offers enormous benefits both for individuals living with
HIV and for public health. But to achieve these, HIV testing needs to be offered much more
routinely than it is as the moment and general practice has a key part to play.”

Dr Philippa Matthews, author of the webtool, said: “Guidance recommends that GPs increase HIV
testing. However in practice it may not seem quite so simple. This site will help GPs and their
teams develop strategies for raising the subject of HIV when the patient may not be expecting it,
and also for taking sexual histories and identifying who is at risk."

GPs or practice nurses who wish to increase their own skills in HIV testing, or who would like to
work with their teams to boost overall testing rates, will find plenty to do using HIV TIPs. It
provides updates about HIV testing in primary care and includes patient stories, quizzes, group
exercises, downloadable teaching materials and an HIV testing audit tool. It will help GPs and
practice nurses to
 find out more about the importance of HIV testing in general practice
 reflect on obstacles (barriers & challenges) to HIV testing
 improve their own ability to diagnose HIV
 improve their team's ability to diagnose HIV
 change HIV testing practice in their team.

TIPs can be accessed at http://www.medfash.org.uk/hiv-tips

Ends
Notes to editors:

1. MEDFASH* is an independent charity dedicated to quality in HIV and sexual healthcare. We have been
supporting and guiding health professionals and policy-makers since 1987.

2. It is estimated that there were 107,800 people in the UK living with HIV in 2013 of whom 24% (26,100)
were undiagnosed. In 2013 there were 6 000 new diagnoses of HIV in the UK. Further information on HIV
epidemiology can be found on the Public Health England website and in the recently released HIV in the
United Kingdom: 2014 Report.

3. Other educational resources for medical professionals produced by MEDFASH include HIV in Primary
Care: an essential guide for GPs, practice nurses and other members of the primary healthcare team
(2011) by Dr Sara Madge, Dr Philippa Matthews, Dr Surinder Singh and Dr Nick Theobald and HIV for non-
HIV specialists: Diagnosing the undiagnosed (2008, update in production) . These booklets can be
downloaded at www.MEDFASH.org.uk

4. National HIV Testing Week 2014 runs from 22 to 30 November. More information and resources can be
found at: http://www.hivpreventionengland.org.uk/Resources/National-HIV-Testing-Week

PRESS CONTACT DETAILS

To speak to Ruth Lowbury, MEDFASH Chief Executive or TIPs author:
rlowbury@MEDFASH.bma.org.uk or 020 7383 6345 (9.00am to 4.00pm)

*MEDFASH - Registered charity No.1148836. Company limited by guarantee No. 7994516 (registered in
England and Wales)
Registered office: BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP

i Public Health England. HIV in the United Kingdom: 2014 Report. London
ii Public Health England. HIV in the United Kingdom: 2014 Report. London
iii Public Health England. HIV in the United Kingdom: 2013 Report. London
iv
Cohen SM et al Prevention of HIV-1 Infection with early Antiretroviral Therapy. New England Journal of Medicine 365;
493-505. 2011
vPosition statement on the use of antiretroviral therapy to reduce HIV transmission, January 2013: The British HIV
Association (BHIVA) and the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS (EAGA)
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/193689/Position_statement_on_the_use
_of_ART_to_reduce_HIV_transmission__Jan_2013.pdf
viBurns FM, Johnson AM, Nazroo J, Ainsworth J, Anderson J, Fakoya A, et al. Missed opportunities for earlier HIV
diagnosis within primary and secondary healthcare settings in the UK. AIDS. 2008 Jan 2;22(1):115-22.
vii
Sudarshi D, Pao D, Murphy G, Parry J, Dean G, Fisher M. Missed opportunities for diagnosing primary HIV infection.
Sex Transm Infect. 2008 Feb;84(1):14-6.
viii
NICE (2011) Increasing the uptake of HIV testing among black Africans in England NICE public health guidance
PH33 http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PH33
ix
NICE (2011) Increasing the uptake of HIV testing among men who have sex with men NICE public health guidance
PH34 http://guidance.nice.org.uk/PH34