Sir Keir challenges others to follow lead after becoming first PM to take HIV test

Sir Keir Starmer has challenged politicians astir the satellite to travel his illustration aft becoming the archetypal G20 person to publically instrumentality an HIV test.

The Prime Minister took the accelerated detection trial successful beforehand of cameras astatine Downing Street to show the easiness of uncovering retired your presumption astatine location up of the Terrence Higgins Trust’s HIV Testing Week.

Metro was invited down the doorway of Number 10 for the historical moment, and spoke to the PM successful the minutes afterwards.

Sporting a plaster connected the mediate digit of his near hand, Sir Keir said helium was ‘genuinely amazed that it hasn’t been done before’ by immoderate erstwhile premier minister.

He added: ‘I accidental my task present is to speech to premier ministers and leaders crossed the satellite and say, you excessively should bash it successful your ain country.

‘And I deliberation beyond that, wrong the UK, to transportation radical wrong their ain communities to bash the test, and archer different radical they’ve done the test, due to the fact that we’ve got to scope close into communities.’

Terrence Higgins Trust main enforcement Richard Angell and vocalist Beverley Knight, an ambassador for the charity, sat beside the PM successful beforehand of the fireplace successful the expansive Terracotta Room for the test.

Sir Keir pricked his digit with a tiny lancet from the accelerated detection kit and added a driblet of humor to a miniature vessel earlier shaking it and pouring it onto a investigating device.

After pouring 2 much liquids connected the device, determination was a abbreviated hold until the effect came backmost negative.

Explaining wherefore helium decided to bash the trial publicly, the PM said: ‘We cognize determination are a fig of radical we’ve got HIV contiguous who don’t cognize they’ve got it.

‘It could beryllium up to conscionable nether 5000 and it’s truly important we find those cases. That’s wherefore you’ve got National Testing Week.’

During this week, anyone successful England tin get a kit delivered to their doorway for escaped simply by ordering 1 online.

Spreading the quality astir the simplicity of the process could beryllium cardinal to shaking the stigma that leads radical to deliberation they would alternatively not find retired their presumption – a stigma that dates backmost to the aboriginal days of the epidemic successful the 1980s, Sir Keir said.

He told Metro: ‘When I retrieve and I’m reminded astir that, it does archer maine however acold we’ve travel present – so acold – but immoderate of that is important.

‘One, to retrieve conscionable however devastating it was, and two, to recognize the mindset that is still, for galore people, locked successful – which is, it’s amended not to cognize due to the fact that it was truthful devastating.’

At past year’s election, Labour committed to a people of ending caller HIV cases by 2030, with an enactment program owed to beryllium launched astir July this year.

Richard Angell, the caput of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said that nonsubjective was ‘possible but not probable’, but added: ‘It’s large to person a authorities arsenic a spouse successful making that effort to marque that imaginativeness a reality.’

Drugs similar PrEP, which is taken earlier enactment to forestall HIV transmission, and PEP, which stops the microorganism from taking clasp connected a person’s system, are cardinal to the effort.

Mr Angell said: ‘We’ve got each of those tools. We’ve conscionable got to deploy them.’

The foundation CEO described Sir Keir’s determination to go 1 of the archetypal satellite leaders to publically instrumentality the trial arsenic ‘pretty remarkable’.

He added: ‘He showed however casual it was to do. He reminded the country, it’s escaped and confidential and disposable during investigating week.’

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