AIDS & HIV in the UK - the current situation

Although AIDS gets less attention from the media in the UK than it did during the early history of the UK AIDS epidemic, it’s far from a problem of the past. In fact, the epidemic has expanded, with the annual rate of new HIV diagnoses more than doubling between 1999 and 2003, and peaking in 2007.²

HIV prevalence in the UK is relatively low and currently stands at 0.2% of the population³. Statistics show that at the end of 2007 there were an estimated 77,400 people living with HIV in the UK, of whom approximately 20,700 were unaware of their infection. An estimated 7,734 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK in 2007.⁴

Relatively low numbers of people in the UK have died from AIDS in recent years thanks to the availability of HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), which dramatically increases the life expectancy of people living with HIV. In 2007, around 540 HIV-infected persons died, compared to 1,726 in 1995, when antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS was not available. The majority of AIDS related deaths occurred because people were diagnosed late and therefore did not start treatment early enough. In 2007, an estimated 31% of newly diagnosed, HIV-infected adults were diagnosed late.⁵

Although HIV is often perceived to be a ‘gay’ problem, infections acquired through heterosexual sex account for the largest number of HIV diagnoses in the UK. The majority of people who acquired HIV heterosexually were infected overseas but only became aware of their status after being tested in the UK. In terms of HIV infections actually occurring within the UK, gay men (and other men who have sex with men) accounted for two thirds of new cases.⁶

Despite the rising numbers of new HIV infections in the UK, public knowledge of HIV and AIDS appears to have declined. While 91% of people in the UK knew that HIV was transmitted through unprotected heterosexual sex in 2000, by 2007 this figure had fallen to 79%⁷.

Many UK HIV/AIDS organisations are calling for improved sexual health services. The Terrence Higgins Trust, for example, released a 2007 report stating that sexual health services in England remain woefully under prioritised and under funded. It claims that despite the government’s promise of an extra £300 million for sexual health services across the United Kingdom to modernise clinics and reduce waiting times, many GUM (Genitourinary Medicine) clinics remain cramped, out-of-date and understaffed