New HIV support provider opens their doors to Liverpool residents

THE Passionate about Sexual Health Partnership (PaSH Partnership) is now delivering sexual health and HIV interventions and support on behalf of Liverpool City Council.

The Passionate about Sexual Health Partnership (PaSH Partnership) is a collaboration between:- BHA for Equality, George House Trust and LGBT Foundation.

The partnership collectively holds decades of experience in the field of sexual health and HIV interventions; including:- community engagement, working with key populations and delivering HIV prevention and support services.

The PaSH Partnership is to deliver a comprehensive programme of work to meet the changing needs of people newly diagnosed with HIV, those living longer term with HIV, or those at greatest risk of acquiring HIV and will provide sexual health advice and information.

The partnership will be instrumental in Liverpool's ambition to achieving an 80% reduction of new HIV infections; which is a key element of the HIV Action Plan for England (2022 to 2025) and will help us deliver on Government elimination targets by 2030 (no new cases of HIV by 2030).

Services will be delivered from their newly secured base, located at Liverpool CVS, alongside venues across the City; and will be available to any Liverpool resident regardless of sexuality or gender.

The Liverpool PaSH website contains further details, including how people can be referred to services.

Liverpool Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Social Care and Heath, Cllr Frazer Lake said:- "In 2018, Liverpool became a Fast Track City, and joined a global network of places with political commitment to end new cases of HIV by 2030; and we're making incredible progress, having recently exceeded our 'triple 95' targets in relation to testing, treatment and viral suppression. The 1 Liverpool strategy (2019 to 2024) has identified the community and voluntary sector as a key element of the local health and care system, so we welcome PaSH and their wealth of experience in the sector to the City and look forward to working alongside them on Liverpool's journey to becoming HIV free."

Aydin Djemal, BHA for Equality CEO, said:- "We believe that the work delivered by The PaSH Partnership in Liverpool will be key to ending new cases of HIV transmission. The PaSH Partnership's delivery model values community. Building on each organisation's area of expertise we are able to work together to reach wider audiences and offer more effective services. We are looking forward to developing strong relationships with existing community and health organisations in Liverpool so that together we can achieve more."

Director of Public Health for Liverpool, Professor Matthew Ashton said:- "Advances now mean that HIV is a manageable long-term health condition when diagnosed early, but continuing levels of misunderstanding and a lack of up to date knowledge mean that HIV remains highly stigmatised. Half of all people recently diagnosed were diagnosed late, meaning they didn't start treatment as early as they could, and could have become unnecessarily ill. By working with PaSH, we're responding to this and will continue to improve our HIV testing coverage and uptake across the City; getting us 1 step closer to beating the virus."

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New HIV support provider opens their doors to Liverpool residents

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