HIV testing rates down in Mansfield and Ashfield

HIV testing rates in Mansfield and Ashfield were well below pre-pandemic levels in 2021, new figures show.

Every year, thousands of people in the UK are infected with HIV, a disease which attacks the immune system.

Thanks to advances in medicine, those who receive treatment in time can expect the same quality of life as anyone else – so the NHS advises anyone who thinks they may have HIV to get tested as soon as possible.

Figures from the UK Health Security Agency show 721 patients in Mansfield were tested for HIV in 2021, equivalent to 23.9 per cent of those eligible in the area.

This was much lower than before the pandemic – in 2019, 44.2 per cent were tested – and a fall from 2020, when 26.3 per cent of eligible patients received a test.

In Ashfield, 683 patients were tested in 2021, 25.4 per cent of those eligible, compared with 49.6 per cent in 2019 and 31.7 per cent in 2020.

HIV testing coverage has stayed at 45.8 per cent nationally for the last two years, a significant decline on 64.9 per cent in 2019.

The Terrence Higgins Trust, a sexual health charity, said it welcomed new developments in HIV testing – such as the ability to order tests online, and including HIV screening in blood tests at A&E – but the gulf in testing between different groups needs to be ‘urgently addressed’.

Across the East Midlands, 134 new cases of HIV were diagnosed last year, including two in Mansfield and one in Ashfield, down from the 197 cases registered in 2019, although this may partly be explained by lower rates of testing.

Across England, there was also a slight uptick in the proportion of diagnoses being made in the later stages of the infection, when it can be more difficult to treat – increasing to 45.8 per cent in 2021 from 44.1 per cent the year before.

Those at high risk of contracting HIV can take pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, to prevent them from catching the virus, but some are concerned the drug can be difficult to access.

Deborah Gold, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, a charity for people with HIV, said: “This data is concerning and shows the Government isn’t doing enough to end HIV.”

Different UKHSA figures show 486 sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in Mansfield last year – equivalent to 444 cases for every 100,000 people in the area.

Among them were three new cases of syphilis, and 67 of gonorrhoea.

Some 784 STIs were diagnosed in Ashfield – equivalent to 611 cases for every 100,000 people – including six cases of syphilis, and 68 of gonorrhoea.

Syphilis cases are on the rise nationally – with 7,506 cases of infectious syphilis reported in 2021, an 8.4 per cent increase compared with 2020.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said:“Sexual health services are recovering to pre-pandemic levels with HIV testing for gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men at pre-pandemic levels.

“More people are able to access services more easily and we are diagnosing thousands of sexually transmitted infections faster."