Lots of us have been lonely and sexually frustrated during lockdown but social distancing is having a positive effect on infection rates – and not just of coronavirus.
According to 56 Dean Street – one of the leading sexual health clinics in Europe – HIV transmissions have plummeted over the past few weeks.
The Soho-based clinic is now calling for people to order a free at-home testing kit. By knowing your status, you can play an informed role in keeping transmission rates down and beating HIV once and for all.
In an online statement, it said that ‘Covid-19 presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity in the fight against HIV.
‘In the last few weeks, HIV transmission has dropped dramatically. Because there are fewer people having sex in London, fewer people are catching HIV.’
When someone first catches HIV, it explained, they’re ‘super infectious’ and way more likely to spread the virus to other people.
However, as so many newly infected people are staying at home at the moment, they’re not able to unknowingly spread the STI to others.
Dr Alan McGowan from the clinic explained that because it tends to take a little bit of time for HIV to show up in tests, now is the perfect time to get tested. People won’t have had sex for a while, so ‘the vast majority of people who have HIV can be picked up with a test’.
The clinic, whose mission is to get HIV transmission in London to zero, is urging people to order a home HIV test before the lockdown ends so that by the time we can re-emerge, there’ll be very little undetected HIV left circulating.
‘We’re only going to get this chance once,’ Dr McGowan stressed.
‘I’m not asking only to test yourself, but encourage every other gay man you know to test as well.’
The home test takes up to three days to arrive and results will be text to you within another three days – so it’s super fast. They’re currently being delivered around London, the home counties, the southwest, Midlands, southeast and various places up north, including Wigan, Sheffield and Leeds.
People who test positive can start medication immediately which will mean that they can’t spread the virus further. People who are on effective HIV treatment can’t pass it on and at 56 Dean Street, over 70% of people who test positive now start antiretroviral treatment within 48 hours.
At the very least, not managing your sexual health means putting less pressure on the NHS in the long run and we all know how much our health service needs help right now. So use this downtime to get your sexual health sorted and we might just see the glimmer of an HIV-free future.
You can order your home testing kit here.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/10/coronavirus-offers-generation-opportunity-fight-hiv-transmissions-fall-lockdown-12677871/
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