UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Urges World Leaders to Take HIV Test

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged World Leaders to take HIV Tests.

Starmer’s office released footage of him taking a rapid home test in Downing Street, supporting a week-long nationwide initiative to encourage HIV testing.

The UK Health Security Agency estimates that 4,700 people are living with undiagnosed HIV in England, and increased testing is crucial to finding them.

The prime minister said his government is committed to ending new HIV cases in England by 2030, with a new “HIV action plan” to be published later this year.

Starmer emphasized the importance of testing, saying, “I suppose my task now is to talk to prime ministers and leaders across the world and say, you too should do it in your own country.”

He further stressed, “If people test, they will know their status, it is better that people know. You can then get access to treatment, and that will also help meet our collective target to end new HIV transmissions by 2030.”

The testing initiative, delivered by Terrence Higgins Trust and funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, has been running annually in England since 2012.

During this week, anyone nationwide can order a free HIV test, with two types of at-home testing kits available.

One provides results within 15 minutes while another “self-sampling” kit, which also tests for syphilis, can be sent to a laboratory for results.