HIV Infection: Screening

(asked on 17th July 2014) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement a national screening plan for HIV.


Answered by
 Portrait
Jane Ellison
This question was answered on 2nd September 2014

Recommendations for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and testing are made by a number of bodies including Public Health England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the UK Chief Medical Officer’s Expert Advisory Group on AIDS, the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC), and professional organisations such as the British HIV Association and the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV.

At present there is a national antenatal screening programme which offers screening to all pregnant women. NICE guidelines for groups at increased risk of HIV include a recommendation on HIV testing in primary and secondary care in areas of higher prevalence. In addition, HIV testing is offered to all attendees of genitourinary medicine clinics.

The UKNSC is commissioning a review of the evidence for a universal screening programme in adults. The Committee hopes to be in a position to consult on the review in early 2015. In addition, NICE is in the process of reviewing its guidance relating to testing in men who have sex with men and black African communities.

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