Health warning after huge drop in the number of eligible patients being tested for HIV in Sheffield

New figures show HIV testing rates in Sheffield were well below pre-pandemic levels in 2021. A total of 2,245 patients in Sheffield were tested for HIV in 2021, equivalent to 46.2 per cent of those eligible in the area, figures from the UK Health Security Agency show.

This was much lower than before the pandemic – in 2019, 81.4 per cent were tested – and a fall from 2020, when 51.9 per cent of eligible patients received a test. 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.

Black African patients have a higher rate of late diagnosis, at 56 per cent last year, compared to 45 per cent among white patients.

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. Women and people from black African and other minority ethnic communities are not getting the access to HIV tests and the HIV prevention drug PrEP that they deserve.”

She added: “Covid-19 has deepened pre-pandemic inequalities, and without action the Government will miss its target of ending HIV by 2030."

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 added that the gulf in testing between different groups needs to be ‘urgently addressed’.

Across Yorkshire and The Humber, 240 new cases of HIV were diagnosed last year, including 37 in Sheffield. Regionally, this was a decrease from the 249 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 that the drug can be difficult to access.

Different UKHSA figures show 2,350 sexually transmitted infections were diagnosed in Sheffield last year – equivalent to 399 cases for every 100,000 people in the area. Among them were 17 new cases of syphilis, and 332 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 to 6,923 in 2020.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson 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.”