HIV Awareness: Wiltshire encouraged to check sexual health
It's part of a week-long campaign to raise awareness
People in Wiltshire are being encouraged to check their sexual health, as part of a week long campaign across the county.
The campaign is aimed at raising awareness and reducing the stigma of HIV.
The virus is defined as "a virus that damages the cells in your immune system and weakens your ability to fight everyday infections and disease" by the NHS website.
And while there's no cure for the virus, treatments have been developed which allow people to live their lives as normal.
Normalising testing to remove stigma
Dr Jessica Daniel is a sexual health and HIV consultant at Swindon's Great Western Hospital and told Greatest Hits Radio and says it's vital people do get checked.
"It's something that really can save lives and that might sound quite dramatic, but it is true.
"We would recommend people to come and get a general sexual health check up, including an HIV test, if they're about to embark on a new relationship or if they've just come out of a relationship," she said.
The hospital runs the only opt-out testing scheme in the South West, which is available to all patients visiting the hospital.
The test is a normal blood test, and for people who aren't comfortable with needles, it can be a finger prick test.
Dr Daniel said it "normalises" testing, helps remove the stigma attached to testing for the virus and gives doctors permission to test, without having to ask questions we might feel awkward answering.
Since the scheme was launched in December 2022, over 3000 patients have been tested, with six receiving a HIV diagnosis.
But the diagnosis is no longer the "death sentence" it once was, thanks to developments in treatments, which Dr Daniel explained to us.
"As a doctor working with patients living with HIV I feel very lucky that I have a multitude of treatment options available to treat patients.
"The treatments are very effective, often it just involves taking one pill once a day. We have some patients on injectable medication now, that they have every eight weeks."
Once the correct treatment has been given, it clears the virus from a patients blood, which is called having an undetectable HIV viral load.
"When you're undetectable, you cannot pass HIV on," Dr Daniel said.
Undetectable = Untransmittable
And while this helps remove some of the stigma around HIV, one of the main issues for patients is the impact of living with a long term infection on their psychological state.
Dr Daniel told us that HIV patients have "double the rates of mental health problems compared to the general population".
"Within our clinic we have a team of sexual health advisers to help patients with that psychological support, as well as coming to see their doctor regularly.
"It is something that we're very aware of and keen to support people with," she said.
And when it comes to sharing the information of a diagnosis with a partner, Dr Daniel said it's a "scary thing" for people to share with someone.
Dr Daniel said: "It's all about educating other people and realizing it's not a death sentence anymore.
"People can have a normal life expectancy with HIV, so I think one when people realise that, they're very accepting."
Awareness across the county
HIV Awareness week is being promoted across the county at both Salisbury District Hospital and Royal United Hospital's (RUH) in Bath.
Almost 3,000 people were tested at RUH's sexual health clinic on St James' Street in Bath, while an average of 30 people visit the sexual health clinic, which is based at the Odstock Road site.
Tests are available to everyone at all three hospital's.