Regional Director for Public Health
Department of Health and Social Care
London, United Kingdom
Ending HIV Transmission in a ‘post-pandemic’ world. What is possible?
Professor Kevin Fenton
In January 2019, the UK government committed to an ambition to end new HIV transmissions, AIDS diagnoses and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030. The new HIV Action Plan for England published in December 2021 set out a programme of work across the health system to achieve an interim ambition of an 80% reduction in the number of people first diagnosed with HIV in England by 2025.
Achievement of these ambitious targets is within our grasp. However, with the challenging backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, cost-of-living crisis, continuing economic austerity and constraints on public spending and rising STIs, progress cannot be taken for granted. Reductions in HIV incidence is uneven across different population groups. While we have seen a sustained fall in new HIV diagnoses in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in London, we are not seeing the same fall among GBMSM outside London. For heterosexual men and women of all ethnicities, new diagnoses fell between 2019 and 2021, but the number having an HIV test remained below pre-COVID-19 levels.
The progress made so far is a testament to the collective and ongoing efforts of many organisations across local government, the NHS and wider health system, statutory agencies, and the voluntary and community sector. This presentation will reflect on the challenges and opportunities ahead for England’s HIV elimination journey.
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Monday, July 24, 2023
16:00 – 18:00 CST