HIV Prevention

If you would like to contact Anne Glew, our dedicated HIV Prevention Worker, you can do so by calling our office number on 01484 469691, or on her work mobile number, 07703187976.

Local activity delivered by the prevention team across Calderdale and Kirklees.

These activities support the national ‘It Starts With Me’ campaign and National HIV Testing Week by providing brief face-to-face interventions to help people reduce risk-taking and increase access to community HIV testing to reduce the incidence of HIV and the numbers of people with undiagnosed HIV.

There are various methods people can use to prevent HIV. People can use tools which suit their needs based on their HIV status, current relationship, the type of sex they are having, their finances and lifestyle.

We can stop HIV by using at least one prevention method.

People on effective treatment cannot transmit HIV to their sexual partners.

Anti-retroviral medication reduces the amount of virus in the blood to undetectable levels so that there is effectively no risk of transmission of HIV.

Want to know more? U=U consensus statement

PEP is a course of HIV medication that you take if you have been at risk of HIV infection within 72 hours (three days). It may prevent you from becoming infected with HIV.

The best place to get PEP is a sexual health clinic. If you need PEP over the weekend or outside office hours, when clinics may be closed, the best place to go to is an accident and emergency department.

Find a clinic and more information

PrEP is medication that you take to stop yourself from getting HIV. You can take it either every day or before and after sex. It is extremely effective at stopping HIV infection.

You can access it free on prescription from sexual health clinics.

Chemsex is a common term used by gay or bisexual men on sexual networking sites and smartphone apps.

It is a specific form of drug use where men take certain drugs to facilitate and enhance their sexual experience.

Chemsex is defined by the use of three specific drugs (“chems”) in a sexual context.

These three drugs are mephedrone, methamphetamine and GHB/GBL.

While some people feel comfortable with their drug use, chemsex can become problematic due to increased risks of STI/HIV transmission, adverse mental health effects or drug dependency. Check out LGBT Hero - Safer Chems or David Stuart - Chemsex for more information.

Check out these links if you want support around drug and alcohol use or to access needle exchanges:

Calderdale Recovery Steps

Change Grow Live - CHART Kirklees

Also, check out the Safer Chems Facebook page for Calderdale and Kirklees. There is more local information on there, and you can private message us if you want any support or to ask any questions; it’s strictly confidential.

This is a strictly confidential service; packs are posted in plain and discreet packaging and we will not store or share your details. Just text ‘SLAM’ to 07874 643429 with an address where we can send them to.

Our HIV Prevention team work actively in cruising grounds across Calderdale and Kirklees, providing condoms and lube, information and support around HIV, sexual health and any other issues that may affect wellbeing.

There are several things to remember if you have sex in a public space, the most important being to look after your health and safety.

It is an offence to drop litter, be seen involved in sexual activity or for your genitals to be seen in order to cause alarm or distress. It is not an offence to walk around an area, hold hands, kiss or show affection to someone in public. The police should not ask for your name and address unless an offence has been committed.

We liaise with the police, other statutory bodies and community forums to ensure cruising areas are kept safe for those using them.

More information around the policing of public sex environments (cruising sites)

We also perform outreach across Calderdale and Kirklees, working in venues that are accessed by communities most at risk of HIV infection.

We use social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, along with smartphone applications, such as Grindr and SQUIRT, to promote HIV prevention, sexual health and to advertise our outreach HIV testing sessions. These sites also allow people to private message us if they require any information or support.

It is recommended that HIV positive mothers do not breastfeed and do not use their own expressed breast milk to feed their babies. This is the single most important means of reducing the risk of infection to their baby post-delivery.

Formula milk is the recommended alternative and the Brunswick Centre will supply, free of charge, a steriliser with four feeding bottles and up to two tins of formula milk per week to any HIV positive mothers living in Calderdale and Kirklees following the birth of their child and up until the child’s first birthday.

Further information about bottle-feeding.

Kirklees

Princess Royal Community Health Centre, Greenhead Road, Huddersfield, HD1 4EW

Dewsbury Health Centre, Wellington Road, Dewsbury, WF13 1HN

Telephone number for both clinics: 0303 330 9981

Further information

Calderdale

Calderdale Integrated Sexual Health, Sexual Health Centre, 51 Northgate, Broad Street Plaza, Halifax, HX1 1UB. Telephone: 01422 261370

Further information

Other Areas

If you want to access a sexual health clinic in a different area click on the link below for more information:

Sexual Health Services