Government health chief Sir Liam Donaldson has confirmed the launch of pilot schemes aimed at improving the identification of patients with HIV.
The two 12-month pilot schemes are due to begin in Brighton and Hove and Lewisham in which general practices will routinely test for HIV when registering new patients.
Underling the reasons for launching the pilot schemes, which could eventually be rolled out nationwide, Sir Liam said: "Tackling HIV cannot be left to the specialists alone. HIV remains a serious and often stigmatised health condition that may deter individuals from actively seeking or being offered an HIV test."
A spokesperson said the Department of Health wanted to make HIV testing outside specialist centres a more common occurrence and would be evaluating the results of the pilots "to determine their wider implementation".
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