England’s HIV Action Plan 2025 to 2030 represents a nationwide commitment to ending new HIV transmissions, building on decades of progress in prevention, testing, and treatment. Developed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in collaboration with UKHSA, NHS England, local authorities, and voluntary sector partners, the plan is informed by extensive stakeholder engagement, evidence, and lived experience. It aligns with the 10 Year Health Plan and emphasizes three key system shifts: from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital approaches.
The plan is backed by over £170 million in funding and focuses on five strategic priorities: prevention, testing, treatment, improving quality of life and reducing stigma, and strengthening collaboration across sexual and reproductive health and wider health systems. Prevention remains central, with equitable access to tools such as PrEP, condoms, and awareness campaigns targeted at underserved populations. Testing strategies are being expanded, including opt-out HIV testing in emergency departments, digital and home testing, and improved partner notification to reach undiagnosed individuals and link them rapidly to care.
Rapid linkage to treatment and retention in care are crucial to reducing transmission. The plan invests in national initiatives to re-engage patients who have fallen out of care and provides culturally competent support, including peer navigation and gender-specific services. Addressing stigma and discrimination is a priority, with new programmes and staff training to ensure inclusive and supportive care for people living with HIV, especially women, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+ populations.
Collaboration across national, regional, and local levels is central to the plan’s implementation. Integrated care boards, upper-tier local authorities, and NHS England will coordinate commissioning, service delivery, and monitoring. Annual evaluations and a mid-plan review in 2028 will ensure flexibility and responsiveness, enabling adjustments to emerging needs and innovations.
The plan identifies five populations disproportionately affected by HIV—ethnic minority GBMSM, White GBMSM, Black African heterosexual men and women, and ethnic minority heterosexual adults excluding Black Africans—to ensure equitable progress. Surveillance data informs targeted interventions, addressing structural inequalities, late diagnoses, and gaps in prevention and care.
HIV prevention continues to rely on combination strategies that integrate biomedical, behavioural, and structural interventions. The plan promotes culturally competent, community-led initiatives, digital access to PrEP and testing, and ongoing public health campaigns. NHS sexual health services have adapted to emerging threats and continue to play a key role in integrating testing, treatment, and prevention efforts, including for high-risk and underserved populations.
The overarching ambition is to end new HIV transmissions in England by 2030, reduce AIDS-related deaths by 90% from 2010 levels, and ensure a sustainable HIV response beyond 2030. The plan emphasizes evidence-driven, people-centred approaches that tackle inequalities, foster partnership across health systems and communities, and embed accountability at all levels. It ensures that prevention, testing, treatment, and care are accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the evolving HIV epidemic, supporting both individual wellbeing and public health outcomes.
