Prince Harry will continue his work to focus the minds of his generation on the fight against HIV and AIDS when he visits the Burrell Street Sexual Health Centre in Southwark, South London.
The service is operated by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and uses thoughtful and innovative methods to normalise and de-stigmatise testing in an area of London with the highest rate of HIV positive patients in the UK.
HIV rates in the UK continue to rise despite years of progress in treating the illness. One of the biggest factors has been that up to 17% of HIV positive patients are unaware of their status and so can unintentionally pass on the virus to partners. Worldwide as many as 17 million people are unaware that they have HIV. Late diagnosis also means people not getting early treatment to enable them to lead healthy lives.
Prince Harry believes that until everyone feels relaxed about taking HIV tests – whether from higher risk groups or not – then tackling the stigma and fear surrounding this simple test will continue to allow the virus to win.
During the visit Prince Harry will see a demonstration of the simple finger prick test that is widely available and gives a nearly instant result.
