Question
Can students get free treatment in Northern Ireland?
29 March 2012. Related: Access to treatment, All topics.
I’m a student in Ireland. Can I receive free treatment for HIV positive?
Answer
Northern Ireland is part of the UK and so the same access to NHS care applies. Although HIV treatment is not free for everyone who comes to the UK from abroad, this is due to be changed in the Autumn of 2012.
To see if you are currently eligible, please follow this link to the NHS website which has information regarding who is eligible for free NHS care. This should include care for students who are in the UK fro longer than six months.
This article from NAM regarding NHS care and non UK nationals talks about getting permission even fro EU countries, but I have not heard of this being asked for in practice at UK clinics.
Similarly, practice will vary in different clinics as to whether they ask for details about your residency status. If you are having trouble getting care, please call the i-Base phoneline.
You can register at any sexual health clinic (also called GUM or STI clinics). The clinic will retest you for HIV and then get new CD4 and viral load results, but it would help if you can have a brief history of your HIV treatment and history. This should include the date you were diagnosed; your current viral load and CD4 count results; the medication that you are currently taking and whether you have any other illnesses. You also need to give them your contact details including your postal and email address.
I hope this information is useful. If after you read it you still need more information, please contact the AIDS Helpline in Belfast on: 028 9024 9268. Their website address is www.aidshelpline.org.uk
If you live in the Republic of Ireland then you can contact Dublin AIDS Alliance on: 00353 1873 3799. Their website is www.dublinaidsalliance.ie
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