AEGiS-Reuters: Nearly 50,000 Living with HIV in Britain

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Nearly 50,000 Living with HIV in Britain

Reuters NewMedia - Monday November 24, 2003

LONDON (Reuters) - New infections of HIV, which causes AIDS, have risen in Britain by 20 percent since 2001, bringing the number of people living with the virus to nearly 50,000, health experts said Monday.

High-risk sex among gay and bisexual men and an increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have contributed to the increase, according to the Health Protection Agency, which monitors infectious diseases.

"The group most at risk of contracting HIV in the UK remains gay and bisexual men, accounting for about 80 percent (1,500) of the new diagnoses in 2002 that were likely to have been acquired in the UK," Dr Kevin Fenton, an AIDS expert at the agency, said in a statement.

Cases of gonorrhea among gay men have nearly doubled from 1,842 in 1999 to 3,363 in 2002. Syphilis infections rose from 52 to 607 during the same period.

Both infections facilitate the spread of HIV.

Fenton said the number of heterosexual infections of HIV/AIDS has also risen from 147 in 1998 to 275 in 2002 and is also linked with STIs.

"These figures make depressing reading," James Johnson, of the British Medical Association (BMA), said in a statement.

The increase in STIs is putting extra pressure on British clinics where some patients have to wait weeks to get an appointment.

"The country now faces a very serious public health threat from STIs," Johnson added.

The latest HIV/AIDS figures were released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1.

"The earlier people are diagnosed with HIV, the greater chance they have of living a longer and healthier life. Awareness of their HIV status also enables people to make informed choices about their sexual behavior and practicing safer sex," Fenton said.

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