PEOPLE have been encouraged to get tested during 'National HIV Testing Week' (November 18 to November 24).

With HIV one of the UK's fastest growing serious health conditions, health bosses from Lancashire's Care's Contraception and Sexual Health Service (CaSH) have called on people across the county to get tested.

An estimated 101,200 people in the UK live with HIV with just under a quarter undiagnosed and unaware of their infection.

As a result, CaSH is marking the week with a campaign to promote HIV testing.

Tania Cockroft from the Contraception and Sexual Health Service at Lancashire Care said: “National HIV Testing Week is an opportunity for people to get tested.

"You can do it at lunch time, that’s how easy it is. In 2015 alone, some 594 people with HIV in the UK died.

"The earlier the condition is identified, the better the health outcomes. Early diagnosis is the way forward to successfully managing HIV."

Common symptoms of early HIV infection may present as a fever, rash and severe sore throat which occur at the same time.

To contact your CaSH team, book an appointment or find out about ‘drop-ins,’ call 01772 401140.

There are clinics in various locations and different session times across Lancashire.