World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day, which is celebrated to spread awareness about HIV, show support for people living with HIV, and commemorate the ones who died of HIV. Dr Helen Iveson, consultant in Sexual Health at our hospital, as part of the Wiltshire Sexual Health team, offers advice on HIV testing and treatment.:

Here in Wiltshire, our team who care for people living with HIV continually strive to spread the word to as many people as possible about how HIV has changed since the 1980s. Those living with HIV in the UK are all eligible for free, effective treatment and this no longer gives the side effects that it did when first given in the 1990s.

Once on treatment, someone with HIV can expect to see the level of the virus in their blood fall to an undetectable level within just a couple of months. This not only keeps them well and healthy but also means, importantly, that they are not infectious and cannot pass the virus on. Routine care then typically involves ne or two appointments with us a year and the majority of our patients are well, healthy and are mainly just getting on with their lives.

The key to staying healthy is knowing your status, and to do this it's quick and easy to be tested for HIV, even at home via our online home testing service, again, free to all in Wiltshire. Also, for those not living with HIV we can provide free condoms and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for all who need it. Please do get in touch if you'd like to talk to us via our email, website and social media. Visit 
www.wiltshiresexualhealth.co.uk. If you have any queries please email shc-tr.sexualhealth@nhs.net.

01 December 2021