Sexual health and blood borne viruses

In 2022, the Scottish Government committed to ending new HIV transmission in Scotland by 2030, setting out the targets and recommendations for achieving transmission elimination in Scotland. In March 2024, the Scottish Government  published a comprehensive HIV Transmission Elimination Delivery Plan (2023-2026) outlining the prioritised actions required by a range of stakeholders to support rapid and sustained progress towards zero HIV transmissions in Scotland by 2030.

The key high-level priorities to achieve this vision are:

1. To prevent people from acquiring HIV, regardless of age, sex, gender identity , sexual orientation, race ethnicity, religion, deprivation or disability status.
2. To find people living with HIV in Scotland(some of whom are undiagnosed) and support entry or re-entry into equitable and accessible HIV care ad treatment, thereby improving the health and quality of life ,as well as preventing onward transmission of HIV.
3. To reduce stigma that makes some people less likely to access HIV prevention, testing and treatment services and adversely affects quality of life. 

A major barrier to HIV transmission elimination is persisting high levels of HIV-related stigma with common misconceptions and negative attitudes not only harm people living with HIV but also discourage those who may be at risk from accessing prevention, testing and treatment.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Public Health Scotland  (PHS) have developed a suite of learning resources to help support healthcare practitioners to 

• consider HIV testing for patients in the area of practice
• to work in a person-centred, anti-discriminatory way with people who may be living with, or be at risk of, HIV.

By working through these resources, you should have an appreciation of the symptoms and common presentations of HIV infection. This should equip you to recognise patients who may have HIV infection and allow you to offer testing .