National HIV testing week – get tested

Cllr Lucy Caldicott is the Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care (job-share) and a councillor in Stockwell ward.

This week is National HIV Testing Week and here in Lambeth we have been running a number of activities in the borough to encourage everyone to get tested and give HIV the finger.

Ending new transmissions of HIV in the UK by 2030 is now scientifically achievable. It’s fantastic that the number of new infections has been decreasing in recent years, but HIV can affect anyone. We’re working hard to continue to raise awareness and encourage people to get tested regularly. In Lambeth, we offer HIV testing in a variety of locations across the borough, plus there is always the option for people to order test kits 24/7 which they can use safely and simply at home via https://www.shl.uk/

This week, Cllr Jim Dickson and I, in our job share role as Cabinet Leads for Health and Adult Social Care, visited an outreach event hosted by Brixton mental health charity, Mosaic Clubhouse, and run by staff members from Brook and Naz Project. It was a great opportunity for people to find out more about the sexual health services on offer, including the opportunity to get a finger prick HIV test right then and there. It’s important that coming forward for a test is as accessible as possible and people who are diagnosed with HIV are able to start treatment as soon as possible.

As councillors in Lambeth, ending new domestic cases of HIV is particularly important to us. Our Borough is home to the highest number of people living with HIV and the highest number of people using PrEP. We are proud that today Lambeth leads in the fight against HIV through our work as host borough for the London HIV Prevention Programme and our part in the tri-borough HIV testing Social Impact Bond run by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, but we know that if we are to be successful in reaching the 2030 target, there must be a national approach supporting our local one – united in our ambition to end new domestic cases of HIV.

Cllr Lucy Caldicott