Dr Christian Jessen, presenter of TV’s Embarrassing Bodies and Supersize v Superskinny, is the ambassador for National HIV Testing Week. Here he explains why he’s encouraging as many of us as possible to find out our HIV status.
National HIV Testing Week begins on 21 November, with extra opportunities to test for HIV in bars, clinics, gyms and saunas across the country. But why is it important to test for HIV? What difference will it make?
There are at least 108,000 people living with HIV in the UK right now. In London, one in every eight gay men has HIV. The good news is that incredible medical progress has been made in the last 20 years and HIV treatment is now very effective. If you are diagnosed with HIV before it damages your body and you are put on effective treatment, you can expect to live as long as anyone else.
Find Out
HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood and semen, so it can be passed on by through sex without condoms, for example. A big concern is the fact that 16% of gay men who have HIV don’t realise they have it – so they could accidentally pass it on to others. Eight in 10 gay men get HIV from a man who doesn’t even know he has it.
If left untreated, HIV can be fatal. This is because HIV damages the immune system, stopping our bodies from fighting off infections that we could normally handle – some types of cancer, for example. More than 500 people died from HIV-related illness in the UK in 2013.
But many people with HIV have no symptoms for a number of years (if at all). The only way you can find out whether you have HIV is to take a test.
“It’s now easier than ever to have an HIV test. Go to your sexual health clinic or GP surgery, or any one of thousands of pop-up clinics being put on for National HIV
Testing Week”
How To Test
It’s now easier than ever to have an HIV test. Go to your sexual health clinic or GP surgery, or any one of thousands of pop-up clinics being put on for National HIV Testing Week.
Testing is quick – only a small sample of your blood is taken – and some HIV tests give you a result in just one minute. Or you can now use a postal testing kit. This enables you to send a small sample of your blood to a testing lab. You then receive your results by phone, along with any information and support you need.
Testing for HIV is free and completely confidential. You can find a clinic near you or order a postal testing kit from: StartsWithMe.org.uk
Getting tested for HIV can be scary, and I think that people feel daunted by the prospect of a diagnosis. This is unnecessary fear. In the vast majority of cases, the condition is now entirely manageable.
If your test result is negative, your worries and doubt will end. If you test positive, early detection, monitoring and effective treatment means that your life will largely carry on as before.
Treatment works
HIV research has given us some good news this year. HIV treatment works by lowering the amount of HIV in the body to such a low level that it is medically “undetectable”. For the first time global research, known as the PARTNER study, has confirmed that HIV cannot be passed on when the virus is undetectable.
In other words, if someone is on effective HIV treatment, it is extremely unlikely that he will pass on HIV to anyone else. This means that if everyone with HIV is on effective treatment, and we continue to protect ourselves (for example, by using condoms when having sex), we could finally stop the spread of HIV.
Testing for HIV is important for gay men as individuals and for our community.
That’s why campaigns such as National HIV Testing Week are so important.
• Go to StartsWithMe.org.uk to find an HIV testing clinic near you or order a postal testing kit. Show your support for National HIV Testing Week by putting #ImTesting in your social media posts.
