LONDON, Nov 30 (AFP) - The number of people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus HIV has gone up by a "disturbing" 25 percent in a year in Britain, the Public Health Laboratory Service announced Saturday.

At the end of September, 2,945 people were recorded as having contracted HIV so far this year, against 2,354 in the same period of 2001, the PHLS said.

"We were very concerned last year when we saw a record number of new HIV diagnoses but these latest figures are even more disturbing," Dr Kevin Fenton, the service's director said.

According to the latest figures, some 41,000 people have HIV, which causes AIDS.

Junior health minister Hazel Blears also described the figures as very disturbing as she announced a new health campaign to promote "safe sex".

"This is a very serious issue for us, and that's why today we are launching a big sexual health campaign trying to encourage people to adopt safe sex," she said on BBC radio.

"It is a specific campaign aimed mainly at people aged 18 to 30 and we're really encouraging people to use condoms," she explained. "It is vital that we start once again to educate people about the importance of practising safer sex," she added.

The level of infection is the highest among homosexuals, at around 1,500 new cases of HIV every year.

The report also noted an increase in other sexually transmitted disease, notably pyphilis, which has quadrupled in six years.

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