A free and confidential online HIV testing service will be
expanded with new funding to support measures to eliminate new
transmissions.
More than £9m is being invested in Wales' HIV Action
Plan over the next two years, which includes almost £4m a
year to expand access to testing services.
The online testing service already provides 40,000 at-home HIV
tests every year and almost 16,000 community testing kits across
Wales. The new funding will support the further expansion of the
service.
Other measures to be supported include improving access and
uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which reduces the risk
of contracting HIV through sex by 99% when taken as prescribed.
Wales already provides PrEP through the NHS, now an alternative
form of the medicine will be routinely available for those who
cannot take the current form.
Strengthening support services to ensure people with HIV live
well and receive the right treatment when they need it. Building
on the support already available in Wales, funding will be
allocated for a national peer support programme.
Health Secretary said: “We want
people who are living with HIV in Wales to live their best
possible lives.
“We will raise awareness of the importance of testing and
expanding our successful online testing services, making it
easier for people to access a test. We will also make it easier
for people to access PrEP and re-enforce the key message that
people who are on effective treatment cannot pass HIV onto
others.”
