Anne Milton MP

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Department of Health

Richmond House

79 Whitehall

London

SW1A 2NS

08 September 2011

Dear Anne,

I am writing to pass on comments raised by a number of constituents about reducing cases of undiagnosed HIV. As a member of the All Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS, I share many of the concerns raised about the need to improve HIV diagnosis and detection, and believe that a strong commitment from the Government is urgently needed in order to decrease the number of undiagnosed cases in the UK.

The cost of treating HIV is two and a half times higher for someone diagnosed late than for someone diagnosed early. In Brighton and Hove, which has one of the highest rates of HIV in the country, as many of 30% of those tested for HIV in 2009 were diagnosed late, increasing both the risk of onward transmission and the cost of treatment. A study of the area has shown that 48% of those who sought medical advice for what were in fact HIV symptoms were not diagnosed.

With local authorities set to take over control of HIV testing, it is vital that HIV diagnosis gets the attention it deserves. I welcome the draft Public Health Outcomes Framework and its proposal for a measure for the proportion of HIV diagnoses which are late. I therefore urge you to ensure that the measure on late diagnosis of HIV makes it into the final Public Health Outcomes Framework. Please let me know if this is something you will be fighting to achieve. It is crucial that we take this step in order to increase testing and treatment of HIV in Brighton and Hove, as well as across the country.

Yours sincerely,

Read the Minister's reply