Local charity Thames Valley Positive Support (TVPS) are offering free home HIV testing to the residents of Wokingham, West Berkshire and Reading. TVPS ran a similar HIV testing initiative last year and due to its success, they decided to run roll it out again. The focus of last years campaign was to get as many people as possible testing for HIV and knowing their HIV status. The local charity, who have been supporting people affected by HIV since 1985, are on a mission to get HIV transmissions down to zero by 2030!
The UK Government has supported the target of no new HIV infections by 2030 and TVPS’s campaign, which is funded by the Public Health Teams of Wokingham, Reading and West Berkshire, is a great step towards this.
Sarah Macadam, CEO of TVPS, said “It’s fantastic to have the support of Public Health once again, who are just as committed as we are to driving rates of HIV transmission to zero. Our campaign last year was really successful with home testing for HIV being extremely popular. We’re all so used to testing at home since the pandemic, and we want to encourage even more people to make testing for HIV at home just as common place as covid testing”. She went on to say, “Rates of HIV testing dropped during covid and haven’t recovered since. Anyone who has had unprotected sex should test either at a sexual health clinic or by ordering a home test, HIV is a manageable condition but a late diagnosis can have an impact on long term health outcomes. This is why we’re encouraging as many people as possible to test as its so important to their overall health.”
Testing for HIV is free, quick, and confidential and the tests are sent in plain packaging.
People can live with HIV for a long time without any symptoms, testing is the only way to know your HIV status. If you have HIV, finding out means you can start treatment, stay healthy and avoid passing the virus onto anyone else. Regular testing helps to reduce the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV and those diagnosed late.
You can order a free home HIV test by emailing test@tvps.org.uk , calling 01628 603400 or sending a Whatsapp message to 07727289712