Delegates at the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) National Council have last week (27 August 2023) passed a resolution backing the expansion of HIV testing in Scotland. The decision means that an expansion of HIV testing is now official party policy.

Tabled by the SNP’s LGBTQ+ affiliate group Out for Independence, the motion called for an urgent expansion of HIV testing in Scotland. Notably, the motion supported the introduction of a National Testing Week for Scotland as well as the implementation of opt-out HIV testing in Scotland’s emergency departments.

The decision to back the policy comes after statistics showed the overwhelming success of opt-out HIV testing in England’s emergency departments. In one year alone almost 2,000 new cases of HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C were found through the opt-out programme in London, Brighton, Manchester and Blackpool.

The policy has also proved to be an incredibly effective tool in tackling barriers to healthcare. In the first opt-out testing pilots, 45% of people diagnosed with HIV were of Black African, Black Caribbean or Black ‘other’ ethnicity, which is more than twice as many as the nationwide average of 22%.

On World AIDS Day 2022, a pilot of opt-out testing interventions in Scotland was proposed by the HIV Transmission Elimination Oversight Group (HiTEOG) as one of 22 key recommendations that formed the HIV Transmission Elimination Proposal. The group, developed by a coalition of clinicians, academics and community, and commissioned by the Scottish Government, noted the impact that opt-out testing could have on identifying people who have HIV and are either unaware or not currently engaged with specialist care and treatment. The Proposal sets out key actions on how Scotland can achieve its goal of eliminating new transmissions of HIV by 2030.

'The expansion of HIV testing being adopted as SNP party policy is extremely welcome news,' said Alan Eagleson, Head of Scotland Services at Terrence Higgins Trust. 'Every day that urgent action to identify new cases of HIV and re-engage those lost to the care system is not taken, the chances of Scotland’s 2030 goal being met are reduced'.

'The evidence is now crystal clear: opt-out testing works. It has been a phenomenal success in England, assisting in removing persistent barriers to healthcare and in identifying both new cases of HIV and individuals who are no longer receiving specialist HIV care. With an estimated 500 people living with undiagnosed HIV in Scotland, and many more lost to care, exploring new ways of reaching these populations will be essential if 2030 is to be achieved.

'The Scottish Government should now act with haste and deliver on its 2021 manifesto commitment to publish a framework on how Scotland can achieve its 2030 goal. If Scotland is to be successful in reaching zero new transmissions, a route map, where testing, diagnosis and linkage with care is front and centre, will be vital'.