HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has today launched a call to action which outlines what the NHS, politicians, funding bodies, gay businesses, the media and gay men themselves can do to tackle the growing sexual health crisis amongst gay men in the UK.  The call to action comes as the Health Protection Agency launches statistics which show new diagnoses of HIV in gay men are continuing to rise in the UK.

The call to arms outlines five simple action points for each group and suggestions range from asking politicians to make sex and relationships education part of the core curriculum to asking gay men to have regular tests for sexually transmitted infections. The document also outlines the extensive work THT and its partners are doing to tackle the gay epidemic of HIV with help from statutory funders including the Department of Health.

Nick Partridge, Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust said “New HIV diagnoses amongst gay men are the highest ever and are continuing to rise.  Twenty five years on from the discovery of HIV this just isn’t good enough. We need to renew the fight and we need everyone, from the NHS to individuals, to join us.”

In 2006, an estimated 31,100 men who have sex with men were living with HIV in the UK and there were approximately 2,700 new diagnoses in that group.  Almost a third of gay men with HIV  don’t know they have it, highlighting the need for increased testing.

Notes to Editors:

1. Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, providing a wide range of services across Wales, England and Scotland.  The charity also campaigns and lobbies for greater political and public understanding of the personal, social and medical impact of HIV and sexual ill health.