HIV diagnoses among gay men hits record high
By Ryan Love
The number of gay men diagnosed with HIV in the UK reached a record high in 2013.
There were 3,250 new diagnosis last year, slightly up from the 3,230 in 2012, according to new figures published by Public Health England.
The increase among gay men comes despite an overall decline in the number of new diagnoses, which fell from 6,245 in 2012 to 6,000 last year.
Responding to the satistics, Yusef Azad, Director of Policy and Campaigns for the National AIDS Trust said: “The Public Health England statistics for 2013 show a continuing high rate of new MSM HIV diagnoses in the UK – about nine gay and bisexual men are being told they have HIV every day.
“This reflects undiminished and significant levels of HIV transmission in our society amongst gay men.”
The figures also reveal that over the last decade the number of new diagnoses among 15 to 24-year-olds has more than doubled, from 221 in 2003 to 462 in 2013 – while among the over-50s the figure has climbed from 490 new cases in 2003 to 974 last year.
Records indicate that there are now 81,512 people receiving HIV care in the UK.
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