Cases of HIV have risen sharply in UK
A new focus on preventing transmission of sexually transmitted infections
is needed |
There has been an almost 20 per cent increase in the number of people infected with HIV in the United Kingdom, according to a report published this week by the Health Protection Agency.
The report says that in 2001 there were an estimated 41,700 people infected
with HIV. This rose to 49,500 in 2002. “The key factors driving
this increase were a possible expansion of HIV transmission in homosexual
and bisexual men and continued migration of HIV-infected heterosexual
men and women from sub-Saharan Africa,” the HPA report states.
The increase in HIV transmission in homosexual and bisexual men is happening
despite a large increase in the use of combination antiretroviral therapy
among men diagnosed with HIV and various targeted health promotion campaigns.
The report adds that a third of people infected with HIV are unaware
that they are infected.
Diagnoses of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have also continued
to rise. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 82,206 new diagnoses
of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections were reported in 2002, a
14 per cent increase over the previous year. New infections of gonorrhoea
rose by a similar degree, with 24,958 new infections diagnosed in 2002.
The most marked increases were seen for infectious syphilis, with 1,232
reported cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland — a 68 per
cent rise since 2001.
The report lists a range of interventions introduced over the past year
aimed at improving sexual health. However, the report concludes: “From
a health protection perspective, a renewal of focus is now required in
which raising awareness about STIs and strategies to prevent their transmission,
providing early and effective treatment, and undertaking effective surveillance
in order to inform public health intervention must be prioritised.”
The full report, entitled “Renewing the focus”, can be accessed
here. World AIDS day is on 1 December.
The theme this year is reducing stigma and discrimination. |
