London Borough of Newham is exploring alternative options to standard venous blood sampling for HIV Screening of newly registered patients aged 16-64 in GP Practices. We would like to hear from organisations who have experience of providing HIV Screening kits for General Practices.
Newham has HIV prevalence of 5.44 per 1000 population and is ranked 14 in London. 34.5% of cases are diagnosed late in Newham. We commissioned HIV screening in General Practices to increase testing and improve detection and earlier diagnosis. All General Practices in Newham are signed up to the delivery of Public Health services including HIV screening for newly registered and high risk residents of Newham.
Previously, HIV antibody testing was provided through saliva samples from oral swabs or standard venous blood sampling. However in May 2020 the oral swabs were decommissioned as they did not carry the ‘CE’ certification. We are keen to understand if there are any providers of HIV oral swab kits in the market. We are also looking for alternative option for e.g. Point of Care (POC) test which requires minimal blood, removes the local provider needing to give results at the point of testing and possibly have the potential to add on another Blood borne Virus (BBV) screening at the same time. This is an exploratory exercise and not an invitation for tender.

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