New rise in HIV cases
53,000 people are living with HIV in the UK – but over a quarter of those (14,300) do not know they are infected – according to a new report from the Health Protection Agency (HPA).
The number of people diagnosed with HIV rose for the tenth year in succession to hit an all-time high. In 1993, just 2580 people were diagnosed.
The report also reveals that immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa now make up one third of all newly diagnosed HIV cases in Britain. Of the 6600 new cases of HIV identified in the UK last year, 2300 were from sub-Saharan Africa.
However, the HPA denies the trend undermines its decision to focus on prevention in the fight against HIV/Aids. Dr Kevin Fenton, a co-author of the report, said it was essential to ensure that those people were prevented from passing on the infection to others and that they received treatment as early as possible.
Some 26,000 heterosexuals are now infected – over half of all cases.
The 6600 new infections include 3800 among heterosexual men and women, and 1730 among gay and bisexual men. But only nine per cent of the heterosexual infections – 341 out of 3800 – were acquired in the UK.
Speaking to journalists at a briefing, Dr Fenton said the increase had various causes, “But [it] is largely contributed to by the migration of people from areas of the world where there is a high prevalence of HIV, such as sub-Saharan Africa.”
He said that the trend would “not at all” undermine efforts to stem the spread of HIV in the UK. Although the primary prevention message from the HPA was telling people how to avoid getting the infection, the secondary message was to make sure those with the infection did not spread it to others.
“It [prevention] is just as important for those people,” he said.
The HPA would also be trying to get the immigrants into treatment for their condition as early as possible to ensure they could lead healthy lives, and improve their access to health services.
Dr Fenton noted that many sexually transmitted infections were the result of Britons travelling overseas. For example, 30 per cent of new gonorrhoea cases in the UK were acquired by Britons on holiday in foreign countries.
He added that it was important not to stigmatise immigrants or seek to bar them from entering the UK.
“We live on an island but we’re not an island,” he said. “We do have a responsibility for providing these people with treatment, and they still have a contribution to make to British society. To say there is nothing [is a view that] needs to be challenged.”
