ALT “Opt-out testing is a highly effective tool for identifying individuals unaware of their HIV status. Looking ahead to 2030, there is a need for long-term sustainable funding to both maintain emergency department opt-out testing and widen the testing offer through routes that reach communities that are currently less likely to test. Despite the positive strides forward and enormous success of the opt-out programme, there is still a risk that we will fall short of our shared ambition to achieve zero HIV transmissions by 2030, and the widening inequalities in HIV outcomes currently observed are a failure to our communities that should not occur when we have the tools available to reach our 2030 goals..."

ALT "...There must be sustained and strategic investment in sexual health services and a recommitment to the interventions that have been shown to work. High-quality, open access genitourinary medicine (GUM) services are an essential part of accessible care and, given the inter-relationship between STIs and HIV, it is critical that local access to symptomatic STI care is adequately funded to fully realise the goals of the Action Plan. Without this, we will only see inequalities and outcomes across sexual health and HIV worsen. The sexual health professional workforce remains committed to working with the Government and supporting the ongoing success of the testing programme. It is clear that close collaboration remains the necessary route to achieve our collective aims, both in preventing new acquisitions of HIV and getting those newly diagnosed into excellent care as quickly as possible” - Matt Phillips, President of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV