Free HIV tests are being offered across Rotherham in aid of HIV Testing Week.
Yorkshire MESMAC is a sexual health organisation that are providing fast, free, and confidential HIV tests today at AMRC and MESMAC Rotherham – no appointment needed.
Tom Doyle, 55, the Chief Executive of Yorkshire MESMAC, said: “We’re really friendly, we’re not there to judge people, what’s really important is the sooner people know they have HIV the more we can do for them.”
HIV – a human immunodeficiency virus – damages the cells in a person’s immune system and weakens the body’s ability to fight everyday infections and disease.
National HIV Testing Week is a campaign with the aim to encourage more regular testing in England and help those with HIV get diagnosed as early as possible.
The campaign is using the strapline ‘I Test’ in order to explore everyone’s different reasons for testing.
In 2017, data from gov.uk showed that a total of 1,143,028 people in England were tested for HIV. However, in 2021, this number saw a decrease by nearly 90,000 people.
During 2021, there was a total of 2,692 new HIV diagnoses in England whereas in 2017 it was a much larger figure of 4,301.
The stigma surrounding HIV has led MESMAC to champion the phrase ‘undetectable equals untransmittable’ when it comes to treatments and passing on the virus.
Mr Doyle, said: “We need to be educated that HIV is a difficult infection to transmit – you can’t get HIV through casual contact.
“What’s really important is that we now talk about U=U, which means undetectable equals untransmittable.
“If someone has HIV and is on treatment, because they’ve suppressed the virus so much in their body then even if they have sex they can’t pass on HIV onto sexual partners.”
In 2021, the number of people in England that were being seen for HIV care was at 91,432.
Additional information surround HIV and where you can get tested is available at https://www.mesmac.co.uk/
