Skip to main content

Wales HIV Testing Week


18-24 November 2024

Wales HIV Testing Week is an annual campaign that encourages people in Wales to get tested for HIV.  

For one week in November, individuals, communities, and organisations come together to promote the benefits of regular testing. 
 

What you can do

From 18-24 November 2024, we’ll be promoting the benefits of HIV testing across our social media channels. We’re encouraging individuals, communities, and organisations to do the same.

Our campaign resources, including social media content, key messages, and posters, are available at the link below.

You can adapt our resources so they grab the attention of your community.

 

If you have any trouble accessing our campaign assets, please contact Samuel.Humphrey@wales.nhs.uk

 

Why support our campaign? 

With treatment, people living with HIV can live as long and healthily as anyone else. Treatment also prevents you from passing the virus on to others.  

But you can’t get treated if you don’t test. 

Getting tested is the only way to know if you have HIV – and it’s never been easier.  

In Wales, anyone can order a free, confidential home test kit.  

By encouraging people to test, we can help stop HIV in its tracks.  

We can help make sure that people living with HIV know their status and get the treatment they need. This will also stop the virus from being passed on to anyone else. 

Wider testing is an important part of the Welsh Government’s plan to end new cases of HIV by 2030. We can all play our part in achieving this historic goal. 
 

Our campaign messages 

  • Anyone in Wales can order a free, confidential home test kit online 

  • The test is quick and easy to use, and you can get it sent to an address of your choice 

  • Getting tested for HIV is the first step to protecting yourself and others  

  • With treatment, people living with HIV can live as long as anyone else, but you can’t get treated if you don’t know your status 

  • The sooner you start treatment, the less likely you are to become seriously ill 

  • Getting diagnosed late can cause lasting damage to your health 
     

Why testing is important 

Anyone can get HIV. Getting tested is the first step to protecting yourself and others. 

If you have HIV, finding out means you can start treatment, stay healthy and avoid passing the virus on to anyone else. 

The sooner you start treatment, the less likely you are to become seriously ill. 

 

More about Wales HIV Testing Week

Founded by volunteers in 2021, Wales HIV Testing Week has fast established itself as an effective tool in increasing testing and tackling HIV-related stigma in Wales. It builds on the pioneering work of volunteer-led campaigns delivered at a local level before 2021.

Led by Public Health Wales in partnership with Fast Track Cymru and community volunteers, the campaign mobilises individuals, community groups and organisations to show that everyone in Wales can play their part in eliminating new cases of HIV by 2030.

In 2024, Wales HIV Testing Week was recognised with awards in the "Charity/Not for Profit" and "Diversity and Inclusion" categories at the PRCA DARE Awards Cymru, which is the leading awards for PR and communications professionals in Wales.

The campaign also won a UK Public Health Register award for “Best Social Media Campaign"