Around a third of all HIV cases in Kingston are diagnosed late, the Council has revealed.

Figures show that more than two in every thousand people aged 15 to 59 are currently infected with HIV in Kingston.

Kingston Council has shared these figures in a bid to urge local residents to get tested, treated and protected on HIV Testing Week, which runs from November 19 to 24.

Free and confidential HIV testing will be available in Kingston town centre from November 19 to 24 at the YES bus parked on Fife Road at the side of the Bentall Centre.

HIV testing will be available from 11am to 3pm from November 19 to 21 and on November 23 and from 12pm to 7pm on November 22, and from 11am to 5pm on November 24.

Dr Julie Beattie, GP at Kingston Health Centre, said: “As a GP I recognise that HIV is a treatable condition. I want to do everything I can to reduce the risk of preventable infection in my patients.

“Like other local practices, we offer HIV testing to all new patients registering with a GP. We also offer HIV testing when we think there may be a chance that unprotected sex has put a patient at risk.

“We want to make it easy for patients to have a test and to be able to discuss any worries or concerns they may have.”

Free self-sampling kits to test for HIV at home can also be ordered from www.test.hiv.

To find a sexual health service near you visit www.kingston.gov.uk/sexualhealth or www.startswithme.org.uk.