On 10th October the APPG HIV/AIDS co-hosted the Halve it report launch “A Roadmap for eliminating late diagnosis of HIV in England” as a farewell to the Halve it Campaign and call to action to ensure the hard earned gains made over the past eight years are not lost.
Stephen Doughty MP chaired the event highlighting some of the important gains of the Halve It campaign since its inception in 2010. Halve It has overseen a massive reduction in undiagnosed HIV. The challenge now is to tackle late diagnosis. Dr Laura Waters - an HIV specialist from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital talked through the findings of the report which you can read about in this briefing.
Sara then followed with her personal experience of receiving a late HIV diagnosis in her 50s. Sara’s story was particularly powerful given it was the first time she had spoken about her diagnosis in public. She described the huge health implications of her late diagnosis and the difficulties in disclosing to friends. One of the main positives which she has drawn from her experience is that her GP is now more aware of the signs of HIV within her age group and is testing more frequently. As Sara said - “I just didn’t fit the demographic”.
Sara’s moving speech was followed by a call for Action from Deborah Gold, the Executive Director at the National AIDS Trust. The event was a great opportunity for celebrating Halve It’s successes and an important reminder that there is still more work to be done.
