Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend opt-out HIV testing.

As part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan, NHS England has expanded opt-out HIV testing in accident and emergency departments in areas of extremely high diagnosed HIV prevalence, over five cases per 1,000 people, a proven effective way to identify new HIV cases. NHS England is investing £20 million over three years, 2022/25, to support this activity.

We will be considering the full evidence from the first year of opt-out testing, alongside the data on progress towards our ambition of ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030, to decide whether we further expand this programme to areas with high HIV prevalence that is two to five cases per 1,000 people. We will also share the findings from the opt-out testing programme with local health systems to inform local decisions on expansion.