Calls for Preston to be included in HIV screening programme

Preston Town Hall in Lancaster Road Pic: Blog Preston

Preston councillors have called for the city to be included in a screening programme which sees A&E patients automatically tested for HIV if they have blood taken during their visit.

The so-called “opt-out testing” initiative seeks to identify undiagnosed cases of HIV and other bloodborne viruses like Hepatitis B and C. It requires patients specifically to state if they do not want to take part.

The scheme was first rolled out in 2022 to those parts of England where HIV infection is most common, before the government announced an expansion to other high prevalence areas back in November. However, the Royal Preston was not on the list of 47 emergency departments to which the programme was to be extended, beyond the 33 included in the first wave.

Preston City Council has now resolved to lobby ministers for the funding needed to expand opt-out testing into other areas. The authority will also call on local health bosses at the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board [ICB] to consider how they could implement such a scheme in Preston.

Introducing a notice of motion, which won unanimous support across the chamber, Labour’s Sharoe Green ward councillor Conor Dwyer said that it was currently “possible but not probable” that the government would meet its target of eradicating all new cases of HIV in England by 2030.

He told a meeting of the full council that every person currently leaving the Royal Preston’s A&E was “an opportunity missed for testing for HIV and other bloodborne viruses”.

Plungington representative Pav Akhtar, who works in the NHS, said there was still “a stigma associated with going to get tested”, which the opt-out initiative could overcome.

“When you’re in an A&E facility…it’s very easy, you’re already in that clinical setting…[and] you’re more prepared to have that additional, extra test,” Cllr Akhtar explained.

Meanwhile, veteran councillor David Borrow added that it had taken “a long time” to get to the present point, where a combination of drugs can keep the virus under control and ward off the development of full-blown AIDS, which had been a death sentence in decades gone by.

However, the former South Ribble MP – who chaired the all-party parliamentary group on HIV and AIDS during his time at Westminster – cautioned against the complacency that the recent strides in treatment could bring.

According to UK Health Security Agency data, Preston had an HIV rate of 4.7 cases per 100,000 people in 2022/23.

It is estimated that there are currently around 4,500 undiagnosed HIV cases nationwide – the lowest on record. During the first 18 months of the opt-out testing programme, 934 people were found who were either unaware that they were living with HIV or had disengaged from treatment. More than 3,000 patients who did not know they had either Hepatitis B or C were also identified.

Part of the Preston notice of motion involved committing the city council to working with the ICB and community groups to raise public awareness of how people can get tested in various settings, as well as to mount campaigns to tackle lingering societal stigma around HIV.

Conservative member Stephen Thompson agreed that “education” had an important role to play, while deputy Lib Dem group leader said the opt-out initiative was an opportunity “to finally bring down the curtain [on the] horror of this epidemic”.

Cllr Borrow also reflected on his own experience in the city that was his home at the height of the virus’ spread.

“As a young gay man growing up in Preston, it was a scary time and there are people I knew …who didn’t survive the 80s.

“When I just look back – now in my 70s – to where things were 40 years ago [and compare them to] where we are now, it’s transformational – and it does give me optimism.

“As other nasty bugs emerge in the future, as they surely will, [then] if we tackle [them] properly – both in a public health way and scientific way – there will always be hope that we will get through it and a way of solving the problem will be found.”

Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.