Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence entitled HIV testing: increasing uptake among people who may have undiagnosed HIV, published on 1 December 2016, whether his Department plans to provide funding for opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments in (a) West Bromwich East constituency, (b) Sandwell and (c) other areas with a high prevalence of HIV.

As part of the Government’s ‘Towards Zero: the HIV Action Plan for England - 2022 to 2025’, NHS England has expanded opt-out human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing in accident and emergency departments in areas of extremely high diagnosed HIV prevalence (over five cases per 1,000 people), a proven effective way to identify new HIV cases in line with the guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England is investing £20 million over three years from 2022 to 2025 to support this activity.

We will be considering the full evidence from the first year of opt-out testing, alongside the data on progress towards our ambition of ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030, to decide whether we further expand this programme to areas with high HIV prevalence (two to five cases per 1,000 people). We will also share the findings from the opt-out testing programme with local health systems to inform local decisions on expansion.