In response to the Health Protection Agency's latest statistics on HIV and sexual health, Nick Partridge, Chief Executive of sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust said:

“This is yet another increase in the number people living with HIV in the UK.  The majority of diagnoses were in heterosexual men and women, 73% of which were likely to have been acquired in Africa.

“It will be the same story year after year unless prevention efforts improve and the recent Government funding to improve sexual health services is spent wisely. That’s why we’re calling for PCTs to commit publicly, today, to spend their share of the £250 million funding on the front line sexual health services that need it so desperately. 

“We’re at a crossroads - if we don’t concentrate on prevention and access to services for African communities now, we will continue to have ever-increasing rates of HIV and the worst sexual health in Western Europe.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services to over 50,000 people a year. The charity also campaigns and lobbies for greater political and public understanding of the personal, social and medical impact of HIV and sexual health.
• Spokespeople from the charity are available for interview and comment – please call the Press Office on the numbers above.