HIV Testing Week 2026

National HIV Testing Week is an annual campaign, that runs from 9^th – 15^th February in 2026, encouraging and promoting regular HIV testing across England. Throughout the campaign, people are encouraged to know their HIV status by ordering a free HIV home-testing kit from freetesting.hiv or to get tested in a way that is preferable or convenient to them.

Across the Midlands, Sexual health services, and LGBTQ+ centres offer STI testing, including HIV testing. So, if you would rather test in person, then search online for your nearest sexual health clinic.

Although HIV is virus that anyone can contract, HIV Testing Week particularly targets the groups most affected by HIV, including: gay, bisexual, other men who have sex with men (MSM), and heterosexuals of Black African ethnicity. While there has been a recent trend of heterosexual diagnoses outnumbering that among gay and bisexual men, HIV is, unfortunately, an unavoidable part of LGBTQ+ history, so our community should know more than most the importance of regular testing.

Knowing your status allows you to have safer sexual encounters for yourself and others, and to access any necessary medical care. Those who test positive for HIV who are on effective antiretrovirals can live normal healthy lives. And, one the virus level is undetectable, they can no longer pass the virus on to other partners.

HIV Prevention England explain: “4,700 people are estimated to be living with undiagnosed HIV in England, meaning they are not accessing treatment and care. Additionally, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) data shows that levels of late diagnosis remain high, with 42% of diagnoses in 2024 made late. UKHSA also reports that, in 2024, people diagnosed late in England were 10 times more likely to die within a year than those diagnosed promptly, underscoring the urgency of earlier testing. Once on treatment, people living with HIV can protect their health, and can’t pass it on during sex

“HIV testing is the gateway to timely treatment and care for people diagnosed with HIV, and to prevention pathways for those who test negative. National HIV Testing Week provides an opportunity to put a spotlight on HIV testing for the public and mobilise the wider health system to promote and improve testing.”

National HIV Testing Week is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and delivered by Terrence Higgins Trust, as part of HIV Prevention England. Find out more: https://www.startswithme.org.uk/