The Welsh Government have provided an update on progress in delivering the HIV Action Plan for Wales.
In his written statement to the Senedd, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles MS, referenced the investment that Terrence Higgins Trust has made to develop peer-support provision in Wales, including through the offering of My Community, our free, confidential online peer-support service.
The Cabinet Secretary asserted that Wales is ‘making encouraging progress’ towards the goal of ending new transmissions of HIV by 2030. He noted that HIV testing levels continue to increase as a result of the national online testing service and that uptake of the HIV prevention drug, PrEP, is currently at its highest level since it first was introduced in Wales in 2017.
However, he also acknowledged that there is more to do, including to fill gaps in surveillance data, address barriers in access to PrEP, tackle late HIV diagnoses of HIV and challenge HIV stigma.
The statement sets out a number of commitments from the HIV Action Plan that the Welsh government must take forward, including:
- Sustainable funding for peer-support networks both at regional and national levels, incorporating in-community, in-clinic and online methods.
- A pilot of PrEP in the community, alongside an awareness-raising campaign to help educate people on how to access PrEP.
- The development of an all-Wales sexual health case management system and the strengthening of data on the quality of life and healthcare needs of people living with HIV by introducing an annual wellbeing survey in 2025.
In 2018, Wales became the first UK nation to commit to ending new cases of HIV by 2030. This commitment was followed by the Welsh Government’s HIV Action Plan, published by Eluned Morgan when she was Cabinet Secretary for Health in November 2023.
Richard Angell, Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: ‘The progress that has been made towards combatting HIV stigma and ending new cases of HIV in Wales is encouraging.
‘We were proud of the leading role we played in securing the HIV Action Plan for Wales and of the role we continue to play in its delivery. It is therefore extremely welcome that the Welsh Government has recognised the significant investment Terrence Higgins Trust Cymru has made in Wales and I am confident that our services – including our recently launched My Community platform – will continue to provide integral support to people living with The HIV across Wales.
‘Acknowledgment by the Health Secretary that much more needs to be done if our shared 2030 goal is to be a success is important. The latest UKHSA data on HIV in Wales shows unacceptable rates of late HIV diagnosis in Wales. Further, access to in-person HIV peer-support services is not integrated in the care pathway and gaps in surveillance data means that people living with HIV who are disengaged with care or undiagnosed are not being accounted for.
‘The Welsh Government must now accelerate efforts to find and support everyone living with HIV in Wales.’
