Sandyford Sexual Health Services hosted within Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and the Terrence Higgins Trust have recently launched the second phase of their HIV testing social marketing intervention campaign.

The campaign is aimed at improving the frequency of testing among Gay, Bisexual and other Men Who Have Sex With Men (GBMSM) in Greater Glasgow and Clyde. 
Gay, Bisexual and other Men Who Sex with Men remained the highest proportion of new diagnoses of HIV in the NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, (NHSGGC) population. 
Between 2015-2018, 37% of people newly diagnosed with HIV had never previously attended a sexual health service and 14% attended a service for the first time at the point they were first diagnosed. 

National guidelines recommend that all people at risk test annually and men at higher risk of HIV infection test three-monthly. The benefits of this are clear, if they test positive for HIV, they can access immediate treatment. This means they can live long and healthy lives, as well being unable to transmit the virus to others. If they test negative, they can access ways to prevent HIV in future including PrEP. 

Recent research shows that 33% of people at risk in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area have not tested for HIV in the last 12 months. It is highly likely that the COVID-19 pandemic will have had a negative impact on testing uptake. To improve testing uptake and frequency, NHSGGC has commissioned the Terrence Higgins Trust to run a social marketing campaign to try to improve testing rates by encouraging people to test more frequently. 

The first phase of the campaign was successfully delivered between August and December of 2021, introducing the brand of ‘GlasGOw Get Tested’ which coincided with the first re-opening of routine HIV testing appointments since the COVID-19 pandemic. 
This second phase is a call to action for people at risk to consider how frequently they should test for HIV based on a self-assessment of their sexual risk, therefore, this will encourage people to change their behaviour so they take part in planned regular testing rather than reactive event-based testing. 

The campaign encourages men to use the online ‘When To Test’ tool hosted on the campaign online hub page. This tool enables men to consider different aspects of their sexual relationships including partner numbers, partners HIV status, condom use, PrEP and Chemsex. The tool then provides guidance on what testing frequency national guidance recommends for them and connects to an online booking for testing appointments at Sandyford. 

Accompanying the tool are a new series of short video clips explaining the benefits of testing frequently and following the steps of how to book a test, what to expect at a testing appointment, and how results are provided. 

Rhoda MacLeod, Head of Sandyford Sexual Health Service, said: “It is extremely important for us to find new ways to engage with the people that are at risk of HIV in our city. Taking this approach will ensure that we raise awareness of HIV testing but also make sure that people who might not be engaged in our services know they can access preventative measures like PrEP and other types of support.”

A third campaign phase focussing on barriers to testing will commence in May 2022.