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UK HIV cases 'higher than ever'
28 Nov 2009-
UK- More people than ever before are living with HIV in the UK but more
than a quarter do not know they have it, figures show.
The number of
estimated cases rose by 8% between 2007 and 2008, says the Health
Protection Agency.
But it is thought
22,000 of the 83,000 people with HIV do not know they are infected.
The Terrence
Higgins Trust said the high levels of undiagnosed HIV were "completely
unacceptable".
In its annual HIV
report, the HPA said they expected the number of people living with the
infection to continue to rise as people live longer on effective
therapy.
There has also
been an increase in testing with 100,000 more tests done at sexual
health clinics in 2008 than the previous year.
Late diagnosis is
also a problem with 32% of adults in 2008 diagnosed past the point at
which treatment should already have begun.
Guidelines from
the British HIV Association introduced last year, suggest even stronger
targets, recommending patients are considered for treatment when their
CD4 immune cell count reaches less than 350 per mm3 rather than waiting
until it falls further to less than 200 per mm3.
Under these rules,
more than half of new cases last year would have been diagnosed late.
In 2008, 7,300
people were diagnosed with HIV and gay and bisexual men are still one of
the highest risk groups for infection, although new infections in this
group has fallen from the previous year.
The figures also
show that 58% of new diagnoses were among heterosexuals, two-thirds of
whom were Black Africans who are likely to have acquired the infection
abroad.
But the proportion
all new heterosexual diagnoses acquired in the UK is steadily rising
Testing
In 43 local
authorities in England with higher than average HIV rates, health
professionals should routinely offer testing to all men and women aged
15 to 59 years who are registering in general practice or admitted for
medical care.
Dr Valerie Delpech,
an expert in HIV from the Health Protection Agency said: "HIV is a
serious infection but if diagnosed early, there are very good treatment
options.
"Of concern is
that over 22,000 people remain unaware of their infection in the UK and
cannot therefore benefit from effective treatment.
"We need to
continually reinforce the safe sex message - using a condom with all new
or casual sexual partners is the surest way to ensure you do not become
infected with a serious sexually transmitted infection such as HIV."
Sir Nick
Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust said: "The
level of undiagnosed HIV in the country is completely unacceptable.
"With early
diagnosis and effective treatment, most people with HIV can live to old
age.
"If left
undiagnosed, they will die earlier, be significantly more ill and more
likely to infect others."
He called for more
testing in more settings with the introduction of a national targeted
screening programme to halve undiagnosed HIV in the UK by 2014.
Deborah Jack,
chief executive, at the National AIDS Trust said the UK had not
succeeded in turning the tide on HIV.
"Instead we
continue to see high numbers of gay men being diagnosed and a growing
number of heterosexuals infected within the UK.
"Preventing just
one HIV infection could save over a quarter of a million pounds, yet
over the past ten years HIV has been politically sidelined in the UK and
spending on prevention at a local level has been cut."
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