What is Fast Track Cymru?
Fast Track Cymru is the only Wales-based charity with a focus on HIV and related conditions.
Fast Track Cymru is a collaborative network of Fast Track Regions across Wales working to collectively reach the UNAIDS targets in all Welsh cities, towns and rural areas across the seven Health Boards. It is a CIO and registered charitable initiative since 2025, and has an Advisory Council which includes key stakeholders from across Wales.
As of July 2025 Fast Track Cymru became the first Fast Track Nation in the world, with all seven health boards signed up to the Fast Track Cities initiative, founded in 2014 by IAPAC in Paris.
Each of the seven health board regions has a coalition of interested parties, including clinicians and other health professionals, local authorities, academic researchers, educators, community groups, third sector organisations and people with lived experience all of whom are invested in working collaboratively in Wales. While each region is autonomous, they all feed into the national Fast Track Cymru network to work together and inform best practice.
Fast Track Cymru is committed to achieving the UNAIDS 95/95/95 targets, as well as reaching zero new transmissions of HIV in Wales and the goals of the Wales HIV Action Plan.
What the Wales HIV Action Plan means for Fast Track Cymru
The first action in the HIV Action Plan for Wales was to establish and fund the Fast Track Cymru network to build on the successful pilot work from 2020 in Fast Track Cardiff & Vale.
Over the first 18 months of the action plan Fast Track Regional networks were developed throughout Wales, as coalitions bringing local authorities, health services and community groups together in the 7 areas co-terminus to the health board areas.
As of July 2025, Fast Track Cymru became the first Fast Track Nation in the world, with all seven regional networks signed up to the Fast Track Cities initiative, founded in 2014 by IAPAC in Paris.
Through the work of the collaborative network of the regional coalitions Fast Track Cymru has been closely involved in, or leading on, the implementation of many of the 30 actions in the Plan.
What is the Fast Track Cities initiative?
The Fast Track Cities global initiative is designed to bring partners together to end the transmission of HIV, viral hepatitis, and TB.
“Ending the epidemics of HIV, tuberculosis, and viral hepatitis by 2030 requires focus, leadership, transparency, and partnership. Fast-Track Cities are geographically and epidemiologically focused, exercising political and community leadership, committing to the transparent use of data-based metrics, and engaged in action-oriented partnerships, most notably with affected communities.” – IAPAC
Fast Track Cities is a global initiative whose core partners include the International Association of Established in 2014 the global Fast Track Cities network has grown to more than 500 cities and municipalities that are committed to attaining the UNAIDS 95/95/95 targets:
- 95% of all people living with HIV diagnosed
- 95% of all people diagnosed with HIV on treatment
- 95% of all people on treatment having an undetectable, un-transmittable viral load
Achieving zero stigma is now a fourth target, and attainment of these targets is seen as the starting point towards zero new infections and zero AIDS-related deaths.
We work to address the related conditions which are affecting many of the same communities is supported through:
- https://www.hepctrust.org.uk/
- https://britishlivertrust.org.uk/
- https://www.hepbcompanion.org/
- https://www.tbalert.org/what-we-do/uk/patient-support/
UK Fast Track Cities include Glasgow, Brighton & Hove, London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol. National networks exist in Wales, Ireland and Scotland, the three of whom make up the Celtic Coalition (another avenue for inter-nation co-working). These cities and regions aim to work collaboratively across organisational boundaries focusing on local needs and finding new ways of cost-effectively challenging HIV.