HIV in the UK

More people than ever before are living with HIV in the UK, reaching an estimated 96,000 people in 2011. Around one in four (24 per cent) were undiagnosed and unaware of their infection. It is expected that 100,000 people in the UK are living with HIV in2012.

A total of 6,280 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in 2011. UK acquired infections in men who have sex with men and in heterosexuals continue to rise while infections acquired abroad continue to decrease. The peak for new diagnoses occurred in 2005 when 7,982 were recorded.

Nearly half (47 per cent) of people diagnosed with HIV in 2011 were diagnosed late, after they should have begun treatment. Late diagnosis is most common among black African heterosexual men (68 per cent), black Caribbean men (64per cent), white heterosexual men (61per cent) and heterosexual women in general (56 per cent) and also in older people (aged 50 and over at 61 per cent).

UK acquired infections have more than doubled in the last 10 years from 1,950 in 2001 to 4,059 in 2011 making up 65 per cent of those diagnosed.

Heterosexual infections accounted for 2,990 (48 per cent) of new diagnoses. Of these, 57 per cent were amongst black Africans.

Sir Nick Partridge, Chief Executive for Terrence Higgins Trust, said on the release of these figures:

'HIV is an entirely preventable condition, yet each year we see thousands more people across the UK receive this life-changing diagnosis. While there is still no cure and no vaccine, that doesn’t mean we need to accept its continuing march. Reducing undiagnosed HIV by encouraging those in high-risk groups to test more regularly is one way we can put the brakes on the spread of infection'

Early Government media campaigns were successful in raising public awareness about HIV. The measures initially taken by UK governments in the 1980s, including condom and safer sex education, needle exchanges and harm reduction programmes - alongside strong efforts by the UK’s gay communities - made sure that we have far lower prevalence rates of HIV than some of our European neighbours. France, Spain and Italy all have individually almost twice the number of people living with HIV than the UK.

For people living with HIV in the UK, the development and availability on the National Health Service of more effective anti-HIV drugs in the mid-1990s meant that they could stay healthier for longer. These treatment developments have continued, with people diagnosed early enough and taking medication as recommended, now expecting to live a near-normal life span.

However, over the course of the 1990s public and political complacency crept in over the risks of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the UK. Partly because of this the number of new cases of HIV being diagnosed began to rise. Today, gay men continue to be most at risk from HIV, but the UK is also now very much a part of an ongoing global epidemic and people who have come to the UK from areas like sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV is very common, are also badly affected. 

In 2010, there were an estimated 96,000 people living with HIV in the UK.

By the end of 2011, there had been 27,800 diagnoses of AIDS in the UK, and more than 20,600 people diagnosed with HIV had died.

The two groups most affected in the UK are men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who have migrated from regions of the world where HIV is common, such as sub-Saharan Africa.

Approximately 3,010 men who have sex with men were diagnosed in 2011, 48 per cent of the total. This was the highest ever level reported, the largest proportion of cases and gay men are still the highest risk group for HIV within the UK. In 2011, nearly four out of five (77 per cent) of newly diagnosed MSM probably acquired HIV in the UK.

A similarly large proportion of people diagnosed with HIV in the UK in 2011 (48 per cent) had been infected through heterosexual sex, 57 per cent of those infected heterosexually were black African. Looking at probable country of infection, 52 per cent of all heterosexuals diagnosed acquired HIV in the UK, up from 27 oer cent in 2002.

Looking at all HIV infections acquired within the UK, this figure now exceeds those acquired abroad. UK infections have increased from 1,950 in 2001 to over 4,000 in 2011, more than double.

Needle exchange programmes have been very effective, and new diagnoses of HIV infection acquired through injecting drug use (132 in 2011) have remained low.

It is also possible for the virus to be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy but improvements to antenatal HIV testing and treatments make this increasingly rare.

In the past, some people also got HIV through blood products but in the UK this is now extremely rare. Since the introduction of testing for HIV in 1985, there have been three cases of transmission of the virus to patients through blood from donors.

Around two fifths (42 per cent) of all those living with diagnosed HIV in the UK live in London. This proportion used to be much higher, but people with HIV are now living across all areas of the UK and particularly in major cities and in North West England.

In the last 10 years, the biggest increases in people living with diagnosed HIV have been in the East of England, the West Midlands and the North East.

If someone is diagnosed a long time after they have been infected with HIV, it is more likely that the virus will have already seriously damaged their immune system. Someone is said to have been diagnosed late if the number of particular immune cells (CD4 cells) in their bloodstream has dropped below a certain level. Late diagnosis is one of the biggest contributing factors to illness and death for people with HIV. It is very important that HIV is diagnosed early, so people can start treatment if they need to, look after their own health and take steps to ensure they don’t pass the virus on.

In 2011, an estimated 47 per cent of adults diagnosed with HIV were diagnosed with CD4 levels below 350, indicating that their immune systems may have already been damaged by the virus. Treatment guidelines recommend that people with HIV should start taking medication when their CD4 levels get to 350 or below. 28 per cent had severely compromised immune systems with CD4 levels below 200.

Below are reports on HIV and STI statistics from around the UK:

2012 HIV statistics

• UK
• London
• South East
• South Central
• South West
• East of England
• East Midlands
• West Midlands
• North East
• North West
• Yorkshire and the Humber
• Scotland
• Wales

2012 STI statistics

• England 
• England MSM
• London 
• South East 
• South Central 
• South West 
• East of England 
• East Midlands 
• West Midlands 
• North East 
• North West 
• Yorkshire and the Humber 
• Scotland (2011 statistics)
• Wales