HIV infections on the rise
The number of people infected with HIV has risen by 5,000 over the last year, according to a new report.
Figures released by the Health Protection Agency show that there are now 58,300 people living with HIV in Britain, compared to 53,300 in 2003.
Chief medical officer Henrietta Campbell said the government would continue to work with members of the health community with the aim of “reducing new diagnoses of HIV and STIs [sexually transmitted infections] by 25 per cent by 2009”.
But Neil Irvine, from the communicable disease surveillance centre, said he was “disappointed” that the safe sex message “appears not to be getting through”.
Most of the new infections are believed to have been acquired in Africa, while for those thought to have been contracted in the UK, three-quarters were found in gay and bisexual men.
