UK: HIV infection rate for gay men at record high
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by Scott Roberts
29 November 2012, 12:01amNew figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) that have been released today in National HIV Testing Week and before Saturday’s annual World AIDS Day show that a record number of gay and bisexual men were diagnosed with HIV last year.
It has surpassed the number of diagnoses for heterosexuals for the first time since 1999 and is the highest annual figure since records began.
According to the HPA, 3,010 gay and bisexual tested positive for the virus in 2011, and over a fifth of gay men were simultaneously diagnosed with an acute STI such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
For gay men, nearly a quarter of HIV infections were acquired recently within the past six months and the National AIDS Trust said it showed a “worryingly” high proportion of new infections are still taking place.
The charity believes the high STI rate in gay men is contributing to the continuing high rate of HIV transmission, NAT’s Chief Executive Deborah Jack said: “Last year saw the highest ever number of HIV diagnoses amongst gay men.
“A key lesson from the HPA report is that if you don’t take STIs seriously you’re not taking HIV seriously. Most STIs may be treatable and curable but they are not just some ‘occupational hazard’ of gay life – they are inextricably connected to the spread of HIV”.
Responding to the figures, Paul Ward, deputy chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust said: “It may sound strange, but – to drive HIV infections down – we need first to see new diagnoses come up.
“Currently it’s estimated that there are 25,000 people with undiagnosed HIV in this country, a large proportion of them gay men. It is these undiagnosed infections that are driving the UK’s epidemic, as someone who is tested and on treatment is far less likely to pass the virus on than someone who is unaware of their status.”
Earlier in the week, GMFA and the NHS announced it had launched a trial lasting until March 2013 that will allow gay and bisexual men in London to have an HIV test without leaving the home.
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Yet at G-A-Y they tested almost 800 people and only 6 tested positive… what does that say to you?
I don't trust these statistics purely because all of the drives for testing have been aimed at MSM, there has been no attempt at getting heterosexual people to test for HIV and some trusts don't test for it unless you specifically ask.
Theres too much which could skew these statistics if you ask my opinion.
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Farkme has a solid point yet I have to say by the one hundreth time ever… if you bareback not being with your monogamous partner YOU are part of the problem mister, and spreading the shit like wildfire.
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Farkme has a solid point yet I have to say by the one hundreth time ever… if you bareback not being with your monogamous partner YOU are part of the problem mister, and spreading the shit like wildfire.
I never said that they wasn't the same way that heterosexual men just do not go to the clinic at all unless they have some sort of sympton. They are also part of the problem because there is a lot of undiagnosed HIV and other diseases going around which are not picked up. Its time the government took the initiative and did a huge inclusive drive for sexual health testing instead of just focusing on the MSM which artificially increases the statistics.
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Reports like this (whatever their accuracy) are important in raising awareness of all types of STDs to all people. Long gone are the days of money being spent on intensive educational campaigns in the 80s and 90s.
