Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Gibson Excerpts

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

7. What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of emergency department opt-out testing for HIV.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Neil O’Brien)]

Provisional NHS data shows that opt-out testing has found around 700 cases of HIV during its first year. In total, it has found more than 2,000 cases of blood-borne diseases, including hepatitis B and C.

[Peter Gibson]

I welcome the Minister’s news on those figures. He will have seen the impact of opt-out testing—detecting more people, treating them earlier and saving the NHS money. However, if we are to meet our 2030 target on no new infections, we cannot delay a further roll-out of opt-out testing. Will he commit the resources needed to expand it in time for World AIDS Day on 1 December?

[Neil O’Brien]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for all his work on this important issue. We will assess all the evidence and reply before the end of the year. Opt-out testing is not the only thing we are doing to drive down HIV transmission. We have had a 40% rise in the number of people getting pre-exposure prophylaxis, and we have increased the number of people testing, with 20,000 free testing kits handed out this year. We are doing everything we can to meet that visionary goal to stop HIV transmission in this country.