Introduction
This one-day national conference was scheduled for World AIDS Day on 1 December 2010 and was organised by the British HIV Association (BHIVA), British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), Department of Health, Health Protection Agency, Royal College of Physicians, Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA), HIV Pharmacy Association (HIVPA) and National HIV Nurse’s Association (NHIVNA).
Undiagnosed and late diagnosis of HIV remains a concern in the UK and expanding testing will result in earlier diagnosis with benefits for the individual as well as the population. This conference aims to review the evidence in order to inform best practice to address this problem. We believe that this is a very important and urgent issue and that the time is right to discuss what effective action can be taken at a local and national level to help reduce the unnecessary and avoidable morbidity and mortality amongst undiagnosed HIV-positive people. It is believed that the number of undiagnosed HIV-positive people living in the UK can be reduced rapidly by the dissemination of best practice.
The conference intended to bring together relevant groups and stakeholders to understand the extent of the problem, and to present the results from projects funded by the Department of Health to underpin the new BHIVA/BASHH/BIS guidelines on HIV testing. In addition, the conference included poster presentations for review and specific time dedicated to open discussion in order to define best practice across the sectors and make recommendations.