An op-ed by Yvette Twagiramariya
This week in England, you can go online, and with a few clicks have something amazing delivered to your house for free. It’ll arrive in plain packaging, and has inside it something you can use in complete privacy. But it’s something I think we should all be talking more about. It’s an HIV test.
HIV for you might be a word that brings up strong feelings. For me, it brings up the pain and grief I feel because of the friends and family members I have lost because of it. But it also brings up feelings of resilience, of strength and of progress.
Why? Because people with HIV can now live long, healthy lives because of treatment. Because if you’re living with HIV, treatment also means you won’t pass on HIV to your partner or your baby. And because I dream that one day we will eradicate HIV from the world.
And that hope all starts with that little test in that box.
For more than 10 years I have been involved in National HIV Testing Week, which runs this year until 16 February. During this week, anyone in England is able to order a free HIV directly to their house, or another address of their choice.
A lot has changed and happened in the time I’ve supported the campaign.
In 2017, I showed Prince Harry how to do an HIV self-test at a pop-up clinic in London. It was an incredible to see a member of the royal family show that everyone should be thinking about HIV testing. Since then others have followed his example, including the Prime Minister last year, becoming the first leader of a G7 country to do so. But public figures and famous faces only change so much.
The bigger change I have seen is in my social circle.
I have seen friends open-up about testing regularly. I felt a shift to there being less taboo about HIV – people are now openly discussing their status around me. People have even reached out to me to volunteer for the campaigns to encourage testing.
We are moving from silence to conversation and from stigma to solidarity.
Testing for HIV saves lives, but it does more than that. It protects our communities and reduces stigma around HIV. And the more people who take that bold step, the closer we come to ending stigma for good. It’s fantastic to see how much the conversations around HIV have already changed.
But we need to go further.
Over a third of new diagnoses in England are among women. Many of those are happening far later than they should, when HIV has already had a chance to damage our immune systems.
It’s also something that as Black women we need to think about in particular. 58% of women diagnosed with HIV in England in 2024 were Black and research shows that, for a range of reasons, Black women in England are more likely to leave a sexual health service without having had an HIV test, even when we should have been offered one. A lot of work is being done to make sure that tests are offered at all appropriate times, but we can also be proactive in asking to get tested.
When we test, we create opportunities to learn and to educate one another, that with the right treatment or the correct prevention methods, HIV cannot be passed on.
If you are still unsure about getting an HIV test, I would say this to you: testing is caring. Testing gives you peace of mind and it is confidential. By knowing your status, you are protecting yourself and your partner or partners.
Make the most of National HIV Testing Week and order your test today at freetesting.hiv.
Whatever the results, you are not alone. And you deserve truth, care and dignity. Period.
Photo of Yvette Twagiramariya
Image credit: Stefania Okereke
