63,500 HIV cases in UK

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The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7429 p659
2 December 2006

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63,500 HIV cases in UK

An estimated 63,500 adults are living with HIV in the UK, according to the Health Protection Agency. The figure includes individuals who have received a diagnosis and just over 20,000 who the HPA estimates to be unaware of their condition.

In a report entitled “A complex picture” published to coincide with World AIDS Day on 1 December, the HPA concludes that initiatives in the UK have been successful in maintaining high numbers of HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy and reducing the proportion of children exposed to maternal HIV infection. The report makes a number of recommendations, including improved access to sexual health services, earlier HIV testing, more focused prevention programmes and a substantial increase in the volume of chlamydia screening.

HIV resurgence There is evidence that some countries are seeing a resurgence in HIV infection rates that were previously stable or declining, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO estimates that there are 39.5 million people infected with HIV worldwide, with 4.3 million new infections in 2006.