New HIV Prevention England programme launches

A new national programme is set to boost HIV prevention across England with a strong focus on community outreach, year-round public engagement, targeted campaigns and local partnerships.

The HIV Prevention England programme, running from April 2026 to March 2029, will play an important role in supporting the government’s ambition to end new HIV transmissions in England by 2030. Commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care, the programme will be delivered by Terrence Higgins Trust and Africa Advocacy Foundation, working with partners across the country.

The programme will coordinate a national-to-local model consisting of

• national campaigns 
• local engagement and outreach via a network of community organisations and local partners
• health care workforce and community capacity-building
• digital communication

Target populations

The programme is aimed at populations disproportionately affected by HIV in whom the evidence demonstrates a higher or emerging burden of infection, or specific challenges in accessing prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. This includes, but is not limited to

• ethnic minority gay, bisexual and men who have sex with men (GBMSM)
• white GBMSM
• black African heterosexual men
• black African heterosexual women 
• and other ethnic minority heterosexuals. 

This aligns with the key population groups identified in the HIV Action Plan.

Programme aims 

The programme aims to

1. Improve awareness, knowledge, understanding and uptake of combination HIV prevention interventions, among populations most affected by HIV. 
2. Provide targeted HIV testing which reaches communities with unmet need to reduce the number of people with undiagnosed HIV and proportion of late diagnoses, including in areas of low HIV prevalence.
3. Reduce inequalities in access to HIV prevention interventions by exposure, gender, geography and ethnicity. 
4. Reduce levels of HIV related stigma, particularly self-stigma and stigma within different communities.
5. Enhance collaboration across national, regional and local partners and multi-sector organisations.

Approach

At the core of the programme’s strategy is collaboration between national and local initiatives, driven by three key principles:

• Collaboration not competition: aligning national activity with local priorities, complementing and optimising existing services.
• Capacity-building and inclusion:  inclusion and strengthening of capacity among stakeholders and the wider HIV support system.  
• Integration and intelligence: facilitating information flows between national and local systems for continuous improvement.

These principles will ensure activities complement local efforts and activities and contribute to a coherent national approach to ending new HIV transmissions by 2030.

Workstreams

The programme is comprised of 4 workstreams

• Workstream 1: Always-on activity

A year-round programme of national and local activities designed to maintain consistent HIV prevention messaging, normalise testing and PrEP use, and reduce stigma. This includes culturally competent outreach, digital and non-digital health promotion, influencer collaboration and information resources for local organisations.

• Workstream 2. Local outreach & partnerships

The programme will work with a variety of key stakeholders and delivery partners to ensure effective local delivery of the programme, aligning national activity with local priorities, complementing and optimising existing services.  

• Workstream 3. Campaigns 

The programme will deliver campaigns aimed at increasing awareness and promoting behavioural change to support HIV prevention.

• Workstream 4. Capacity and skills development

The programme will deliver a capacity and skills development programme to strengthen community and clinical workforces and systems supporting HIV prevention.

For more details, download the full briefing here.