Time to read
Leading charities have delivered an open letter to Public Health Minister Neil O’Brien and NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard, urging them to expand opt-out HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C testing in emergency departments across the country.
Delivered by National AIDS Trust, Terrence Higgins Trust, British Liver Trust and Hepatitis C Trus t, the letter has been signed by more than 2,200 people who want the Government to fully fund opt-out testing in more areas in England.
New data shows that since opt-out testing launched in London, Manchester, Brighton and Blackpool in 2022, almost 1,700 people have been found with HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C in the first 10 months of this three-year programme.
Of this number, 450 have been diagnosed with HIV. These people can now access effective treatment, which means they can expect to live a healthy life and won’t be able to pass on the virus. In the same time, more than 850 people have been diagnosed with Hepatitis B and more than 390 with Hepatitis C.
The first 100 days of emergency department opt-out testing in areas classed as having very high HIV prevalence cost £2 million to the NHS. In that time however, the programme had made an estimated minimum saving of £6-8 million in care costs. This signals long-term financial savings for the NHS, who will be able to diagnose more people earlier, reducing potential hospital stays and treatment costs related to advanced illness.
Opt-out testing has also proven to be an incredibly effective tool in identifying people with HIV who are disproportionately affected by higher rates of late diagnosis, including women and people from Black African communities1. For example, 45% of people diagnosed with HIV in the first opt-out testing pilots were of black African, black Caribbean or black ‘other’ ethnicity, which is more than twice as many as the nationwide average of 22% for these groups.
Oliver Brown, Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, was diagnosed with HIV after being tested as part of a hospital’s opt-out testing scheme. He said: “I was 29 when I went to A&E after coming off my bike with one of my fingers badly sliced during the fall. Had Chelsea and Westminster Hospital not been part of a routine HIV opt-out testing programme in emergency departments, I may still be unaware of my status. Routine opt-out testing in A&E departments saves lives, it saved mine and stopped me passing on the virus to others.”
The overwhelming success of opt-out testing proves the government needs to act now to expand the programme beyond the initial four cities. There are over 30 more areas identified as having a high prevalence of HIV that are not currently able to offer opt-out testing due to a lack of national funding2. Without opt-out testing taking place in these areas, there are potentially thousands of people who are unaware they have HIV, Hepatitis B and C and therefore not receiving effective treatment.
Opt-out testing must be expanded if we are to meet the ambitious targets to eliminate Hepatitis C in England by 2025 and HIV transmissions by 2030.