Warning cuts to STI clinics will make target to end HIV in England by 2030 ‘impossible’

Cuts to sexual health clinics could make eliminating new HIV cases in England by 2030 “impossible”, politicians have warned.

A report on HIV services in the capital by the London Assembly Health Committee showed there were 6,008 new case in England in 2023 – almost double the amount in 2019, when 3,859 people were diagnosed.

Although much of the increase can be attributed to new testing in emergency departments, the figures show that even when these are excluded there has still been an increase over that period. Before that time, new cases had been falling.

Labour’s Krupesh Hirani, chair of the committee, told The Independent it would be “impossible” to hit the 2030 targets if public health budgets, that support testing and public outreach programs to target at-risk groups, aren’t protected and continue to be cut.

He said: “The importance of testing with HIV is well documented and well evidenced and the obvious outcome and benefit of testing is to make sure we identify people who may be living with HIV but also it will help if people know what their status is in terms of what action they can take.”

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Source: The Independent, 30 April 2025