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Home News and Blogs Cardiff Priest Backs HIV Testing

Cardiff Priest Backs HIV Testing

News Posted: 18 November 2022

A campaign to increase HIV testing in Wales is being supported by Cardiff’s Reverend Canon Sarah Jones.

Rev’d Sarah is calling on as many people as possible to get involved with the mass testing from 21st- 27th November, now officially Wales HIV Testing Week 2022. The testing will mostly take place via free confidential postal testing kits.

HIV Testing Week is being run by Fast Track Cardiff and Vale which is part of a network of groups in more than 300 cities and municipalities which are committed to attain the UNAIDS 90/90/90 targets:

90% of all people living with HIV diagnosed
90% of all people diagnosed with HIV being on treatment
90% of all people on treatment having undetectable, un-transmittable viral load.

Achieving zero stigma is now a fourth target and attainment of the targets is seen as the starting point towards zero new infections and zero AIDS-related deaths.

Rev’d Sarah said, “We hope that Wales HIV Testing Week will help normalise getting an easy, potentially life-saving test done. There should be no stigma about taking a test and in taking your sexual health seriously. Ultimately, there should be no stigma about your HIV status. Taking care of yourself and others is the most important thing.”

A diagnosis and treatment of HIV in a person’s system is vital to stop the spread of the virus. NHS information says, “With an early diagnosis and effective treatments, most people with HIV will not develop any AIDS-related illnesses and will live a near-normal lifespan.”

Late diagnosis can leave lasting damage to your health and increases the risk of transmitting HIV to others as a result of not knowing your status.

In 2019, National Aids Trust estimated that 1 in 16 people living with HIV in the UK did not know that they had the virus.

The 2019 statistics also indicated that the proportion of late diagnoses was highest among heterosexual men (52%), followed by heterosexual women (44%) suggesting a greater need for awareness in areas of society besides the LGBTQI+ community which has a more open culture around HIV awareness.

Fast Track Cardiff and Vale is part of a global network of cities aiming to achieve zero HIV stigma and zero new transmission of HIV by 2030.