Wednesday 1 December is World AIDS Day 2021, with this year also the 40th anniversary since the first HIV diagnosis in the UK. HIV remains a major public health challenge in the capital and London has the highest HIV rates in the UK.
Boroughs collaborate through the London HIV Prevention Programme (LHPP) and its ‘Do It London’ public health campaign, which shares pan-London messages on how to prevent HIV. The LHPP was formed by the boroughs in response to rising rates of HIV in the capital and ‘Do It London’ started in 2015. Since then, new diagnoses of HIV in London have decreased by 41% and London has made the fastest progress in reducing HIV of any UK region.
Together with the Mayor of London, the NHS, and voluntary sector and community partners, London local government is signed up to the Fast Track-Cities Programme and a commitment of achieving zero new HIV diagnoses by 2030.
Cllr Danny Thorpe, London Councils’ Executive Member for Health & Care, said: “Forty years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic gives us so much to reflect on and learn from. While there’s a huge amount of sorrow and loss, there’s also incredible progress being made and real hope of ending HIV altogether.”
Visit the Do It London website.