Gay men and men who have sex with men

Historically, HIV has hit the gay community hardest in the UK. For the first 17 years of the epidemic, the highest number of new diagnoses of HIV were among gay men and men who have sex with men (MSM). That changed in 1999 when the number of heterosexually acquired diagnoses overtook those among MSM.

Nevertheless, in terms of transmission of the virus within the UK, MSM are still the group at highest risk of getting infection. There’s been a steady rise in the number of MSM living with HIV since 2000.

Statistics

Despite a decrease of 6% in numbers of new diagnoses amongst MSM between 2007 and 2008, this group remains at greatest risk of HIV within the UK and numbers of MSM living with HIV remain high.  At the end of 2008, there were over 25,500 MSM living with diagnosed HIV. Given rates of undiagnosed HIV there could be a further 9,500 men who are not yet aware of their infection. 

MSM account for:

• 42% of people seen for HIV care in 2008
• 38% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2008 were amongst MSM
• • In 2008, where probable country of infection was reported, 83% of newly diagnosed MSM acquired their infection in the UK.

Amongst MSM, the greatest number of new diagnoses were in men aged 25-34, representing 37% of MSM newly diagnosed with HIV in 2008 .However, there are more older people living with HIV. In 2008, one in five gay men receiving HIV care was over 50, and a further 6% were over 60.