Today the British HIV Association launched new Standards for Care for People Living with HIV.  An estimated 96,000 people are currently living with HIV in the UK.

The standards are aimed at commissioners and service providers and aim to ensure that access to treatment and care is equitable, safe and effective.  For the first time, they recognise the importance of patient engagement in cost-effective prescribing and medicines management.  They also define a set of auditable outcomes that should be achieved when providing care to people living with HIV.

David Ogden, HIV specialist pharmacist for the Association and Pharmacy Team Leader at St George’s Hospital London said:

“As far as pharmacy is concerned, the new Standards have something for everyone.

“Specialist HIV pharmacists are leading medicines optimisation with antiretrovirals, linking in with primary care, highlighting drug interactions and conducting medication reviews.  Some community pharmacists are now interested in offering HIV testing.  This may be one way we can reduce the numbers of undiagnosed people with HIV in the UK, which is currently estimated to be around 22,000.  Care pathways need to reach out to those people, and increase the uptake of testing to reduce the burden of late diagnosis and AIDS complications.”