Make HIV testing routine

Doctors should consider the possibility of HIV infection in every patient, particularly when the diagnosis is unclear, according to the UK National Guidelines for HIV Testing. These guidelines are supported by a new resource pack, Tackling HIV Testing: increasing detection and diagnosis, produced by the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health.

Patients with HIV infection have a near-normal life expectancy provided they are diagnosed early. Specialists believe that a quarter of the 77 000 people with HIV in the UK are undiagnosed and almost a third are diagnosed late.

Suspicion about possible HIV infection should be raised in certain clinical settings (sexual health clinics, antenatal services, termination of pregnancy services and drug dependency programmes, services for people diagnosed with tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, and lymphoma) and in anyone presenting with a clinical indicator for HIV infection; anyone who has been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection; those with a current or former partner with HIV, a history of injecting drug use, or from countries with high HIV prevalence; and all men who have sex with men.

The resource pack has been developed to assist clinicians in secondary healthcare to implement the recommendations of the guidelines across a range of inpatient and outpatient settings.

The resource pack can be downloaded at www.medfash.org.uk.