What's new

September 2011:  Time to test for HIV: Expanding HIV testing in healthcare and community services in England

March 2011: New NICE guidance supports HPA advice and BHIVA/BASHH/BIS guidelines on expanding HIV testing

HIV testing Guidelines

Guidelines from the British HIV Association (BHIVA), British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) and the British Infection Society (BIS), published in 2008, recommend expanding HIV testing into more generalised healthcare settings where the local diagnosed prevalence is greater than 2 per 1000 population.

›› Download Guidelines

The HPA provides HIV prevalence data by local authority (LA) geography to assist commissioners and health professionals identify LAs were HIV testing should be expanded.  In 2010 there were 54 LAs that had a diagnosed prevalence above the 2 per 1,000 threshold.  For more information, please see below:

• Areas where wider HIV testing policies should be considered (PDF, 132 KB)

Additional published information about HIV is available the National Electronic Library of Infection:

http://www.neli.org.uk/IntegratedCRD.nsf/NeLI_Diseases_HIV?OpenForm

HIV testing pilot projects

The Department of Health funded 8 pilot projects examining the most successful ways to increase HIV testing.  The pilots took place in a variety of hospital, primary care and community settings.  Additional pilot projects are also being conducted around the country.  In collaboration with the Department of Health the HPA is conducting an overview of these projects and further aspects of HIV testing in the UK.  Below are a number of resources that you may find useful if you are planning an HIV testing pilot.

• Summary and contact details for DH funded HIV testing pilots:
  • Summary of DH pilot projects (Excel Spreadsheet, 141 KB)
• Requirement for consideration of study by an ethics committee:
  • Requirement for ethical approval (PDF, 152 KB) 
• Evaluation framework:
  • Evaluation framework for HIV testing (Excel Spreadsheet, 40 KB)
• Sample questionnaires:
  • Sample patient questionnaire (Word Document, 36 KB) 
  • Sample staff questionnaire (Word Document, 34 KB) 

HIV testing in tuberculosis patients

The UK National Guidelines for HIV Testing recommend universal HIV testing in healthcare services for patients diagnosed with tuberculosis.  Resources have been developed for use within TB clinics.  These resources are available to download here.

Contact Details

We are interested to hear of any pilot projects which are being planned or are currently underway.  If you would like to discuss your plans for a pilot or have any questions about the resources provided here please contact:

hiv-sti@hpa.org.uk

 

• New NICE guidance supports HPA advice and BHIVA/BASHH/BIS guidelines on expanding HIV testing
  The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has week published guidance for increasing the uptake of HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) and black African communities
  Added/updated: 23 March 2011