The hit TV drama It's a Sin has been credited with sparking a huge surge in HIV testing ahead of its heartbreaking finale.
The British show has done phenomenally well in the UK. As reported by The Mirror, viewership has hit a staggering 6.5 million since it aired on January 22.
The show centers around a group of friends in the 1980s and depicts the ways in which ordinary people were affected by the AIDS crisis.
The powerful drama aired a little over a week before HIV Testing Week, which directly impacted the number of people who decided to get tested this year.
In fact, as part of HIV Testing Week in 2019, 8,068 individuals checked their HIV status, however, this year, that figure was surpassed in just one day, the Mirror reports.
As a result, Public Health England had to order an additional 10,000 tests due to the increase in demand.
Liam Beattie, the policy officer for HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust told iNews: "February is LGBT History Month, so it was already coming at a time where we were looking to get messaging out there to encourage people to get tested.
"If you compare these first-day figures to the highest previous record in 2019, that was just over 2,700 tests – so we’ve said a massive quadrupling of orders.
"There are 5,800 people in England, who are living with HIV but don’t know their status.
"Hopefully, there are people out there who have been living with HIV, didn’t know their status, and ordered one of these tests as a direct result of the discourse around it’s A Sin."
In an interview with Channel 4, Stephen Fry, who plays Arthur Garrison MP on the show, stressed the importance of remembering that there are people who are still infected with the sexually transmitted disease and that many people have sadly succumbed to it.
He said:
"The lie has been fully exposed that straight people couldn’t get it – those transmissions rates are gigantic around the world. It’s just a matter of ensuring the medication gets to where it’s needed, which can be very difficult.
"There are good things – you can take medication now. But because of the population explosion and the way we live, if you let your guard down as far as HIV is concerned, it comes back.
"And it lets in chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis… The same behaviours that can tamp AIDS down can tamp those down.''