Greater Manchester Fast-Track Cities Conference

22nd May 2025

Greater Manchester’s journey to end new transmissions of HIV within a generation began in 2016 with the launch of the HIVe programme—a bold, system-wide initiative aligned with the city region’s Living Well agenda.

In 2018, Greater Manchester became a Fast-Track City, signing the Paris Declaration and committing to place people at the centre of the response to HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV).

About the Conference

The Greater Manchester Fast-Track Cities Conference, sponsored by Gilead and ViiV Healthcare, was organised by the PaSH Partnership: George House Trust, BHA for Equality and the LGBT Foundation

Over 100 attendees joined the event, including people living with HIV and hepatitis, voluntary sector organisations, local authorities, healthcare professionals, and workers from homelessness and substance use services.

Opening Remarks

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, opened the conference by reaffirming the region’s shared ambition and commitment to ending new transmissions.

Keynote Speakers

The conference featured a diverse range of speakers, including:

Clinicians specialising in HIV, hepatitis, and TB
Third sector leaders from George House Trust, Hepatitis C Trust, BHA for Equality, and LGBT Foundation
NHS and Local Authority leads

Cllr Thomas Robinson, Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care, closed the event with a powerful message:

''Our second Greater Manchester Fast Track Cities conference demonstrated once again the energy we have in working together not only on HIV and AIDS, but also on Hep B, Hep C and TB. When we come together as a city and a city region, that’s when we’ve advanced the furthest. Opt-out testing across our hospitals, mandatory awareness training are impacting in ways we once never thought possible.

But its these final yards now, in the goal of ending new diagnosis’s by 2030 where we are going to be pushed the hardest – but I know that we will do it together, and I promise as political lead on the Board to continue to play my part in supporting the team each and every step of the way as we approach 2030. Together we can achieve it.”

Key Messages

Viral Hepatitis

Hepatitis C elimination is within reach in Greater Manchester.
Multi-agency partnerships and innovation are driving progress.
Emergency Department (ED) testing is highly effective, especially for hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B diagnoses now exceed those of HIV and hepatitis C combined.
Hepatitis B diagnoses are rising — but services are under pressure.
Without dedicated commissioning and funding, services cannot sustain this progress in the long run. Hepatitis B deserves the same strategic investment as HIV and hepatitis C.

HIV

Continued funding for ED testing programmes is essential.
Expand testing in primary and secondary care to meet NICE 2016 guidelines.
Focus on re-engagement and retention in care.
PrEP expansion must continue until there are no new transmissions.
Tackling stigma remains foundational—across healthcare, public health, and policy.

Tuberculosis (TB)

Improve latent TB testing for people living with HIV.
Focused screening for both active and latent TB in risk populations
Develop better patient education materials.
Shift to a community-based test and treat approach.
Invest in outbreak management and peer support.
Intervention with housing, drug, and alcohol services.
Ensure equitable access to testing.

GM wide approach will need investment

Workshop Highlights

The conference included a dynamic workshop focused on stigma, prevention, testing, and management. Key themes included:

The essential role of peer support
Involving people with lived experience
Strengthening primary care capacity to support more testing and enable them to better support HIV as a long-term condition
The need for sustained funding

· Knowledge gaps in HIV, viral hepatitis and TB in all sectors including healthcare and education

Integrating efforts across HIV, hepatitis, and TB

The essential role that opt out testing in ED has played and developing this further

Using data and research to drive campaigns and myth busting
Identifying underserved populations
Tackling stigma and shame

Key Recommendations

Short-Term (Within 6 Months)

Roll out the stigma module across more NHS trusts and primary care.
Extend GP champions to include HIV, HBV, and TB.
Conduct research to identify testing gaps.
Develop myth-busting communications using data.

Medium-Term (6–18 Months)

Engage tattoo artists, aestheticians, and piercers in awareness efforts.
Standardise opt-out testing in primary and secondary care.
Provide resources, training and incentives for primary care testing.
Expand the stigma module to include hepatitis and TB, targeting wider audiences (e.g., dentists, care homes, education providers).

Long-Term