Policy paper

Towards Zero: the HIV Action Plan for England - 2022 to 2025

The plan sets out how we will achieve an 80% reduction in new HIV infections in England by 2025.

Applies to England

Documents

Details

The HIV Action Plan sets out how we will ensure that partners across the health system and beyond maintain and intensify work around four core themes – prevent, test, treat and retain. This includes:

  • preventing people from getting HIV
  • ensuring those who get HIV are diagnosed promptly
  • preventing onward transmission from those with diagnosed infection
  • delivering interventions which aim to improve the health and quality of life of people with HIV and tackle stigma

The Action Plan will:

  • prevent new infections by expanding and improving well-proven HIV combination prevention activities, and investing £3.5 million in a National HIV Prevention Programme over 2021-2024 and ensuring that expansion of access to PrEP for key groups continues

  • scale up HIV testing in high-risk populations where uptake is low to ensure new infections are identified rapidly - including expanding opt-out testing in A&E departments in areas with the highest prevalence of HIV and will be backed by £20 million over the next three years

  • ensure people, once diagnosed, rapidly receive treatment as this will stop them transmitting the infection further, increase their chances of living a long, healthy life by reducing the chance of complications and support everyone living with HIV to stay in treatment

The HIV Oversight Group

A wide range of partners have helped inform and shape the HIV Action Plan.

To ensure continuity with the work of the independent HIV Commission, the Government established an HIV Oversight Group, chaired by Dame Inga Beale, and membership of the group included a diverse range of organisations who offered their expertise and ensured that the voices of people living with HIV were represented.

Find out more information about the HIV Oversight Group.

Professor Kevin Fenton appointed as the Chief Advisor on HIV and Chair of the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group

To drive forward the aims of the HIV Action Plan, Professor Kevin Fenton has been appointed the government’s Chief Advisor on HIV.

Professor Fenton will provide leadership and support to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) on the implementation of the plan.

He will also advise ministers on progress and, if needed, further action required to achieve the government’s ambitions for HIV in England.

In addition, he will chair the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group which is being established to oversee delivery of the plan.

Published 1 December 2021
Last updated 21 December 2021 + show all updates
  1. Added details of the appointment of a new chair person.

  2. First published.