Greater Manchester is proud to be taking part in National HIV Testing Week, from the 9/2/2026 to the 15/2/2026, encouraging everyone to know their HIV status. This year’s theme, ‘I Test’, highlights that HIV testing is an empowering step that everyone can take.
The campaign will promote the importance of regular HIV testing to take care of your health and your partners’ health and help prevent HIV transmissions by knowing your status.
Across Greater Manchester, the PaSH (Passionate about Sexual Health) Partnership (George House Trust, BHA for Equality and LGBT Foundation) will be at a range of venues offering free HIV tests and sexual health information.
Darren Knight, Chief Executive at George House Trust, said: “At George House Trust, we work to ensure that everyone knows their HIV status. National HIV Testing Week gives us the opportunity to remind people that HIV is a manageable, long-term condition, and when you’re on effective medication, you can’t pass it on. Knowing your status simply means you’re looking after yourself and we offer the support so that you can live well if you are living with HIV.”
Ellie Harrison (HIV activist for George House Trust) said: ‘The day I was diagnosed with HIV was the start of a new beginning for me. Knowing your status doesn’t just save lives, it opens the door to care, confidence, and community’
Why HIV testing matters
People can live for several years with HIV without having any symptoms. The only way to be certain of your HIV status is to take a test. Greater Manchester, like the rest of the country, has a high rate of late HIV diagnosis which means that the virus has started to impact the person’s health, and they have transmittable levels of the virus in their system.
HIV has changed a lot and is now a long-term, manageable, and treatable condition. Modern HIV treatment removes the virus from the blood to undetectable levels. Once this is the case, usually within weeks to months of starting treatment, onward transmission through sex is not possible. This is called U=U standing for Undetectable=Untransmittable.
There are effective tools, like PrEP and condoms, you can use to help prevent HIV transmission. PrEP is a drug that can be taken to prevent HIV transmission and is available for free from sexual health services.
How to get tested during NHTW
To make testing easy, accessible and convenient, the PaSH Partnership will be running several sexual health testing events throughout Greater Manchester for National HIV Testing Week from 9th – 15th of February 2026. If you can’t make one of the events, check out the PaSH website for convenient and accessible HIV testing options for you: gmpash.org.uk/testing.
The PaSH partners provide free condoms and lube which can be collected from us during National HIV Testing Week or ordered on our websites.
