HIV infections on the increase among heterosexuals

Monday, 18 August 2003 12:00 AM

There has been a significant increase in the number of HIV infections reported in the UK.

1,622 people tested positive in the six months to June, and continuing a recent shift in HIV trends in the UK, more than 1,000 of those were heterosexual - a leap of 44% on the same period last year.

That means that for the first time, twice as many heterosexual patients are testing positive as homosexual patients.

The Health Protection Agency's report follows figures it released last month that suggested that sexually-transmitted infections were also on the increase, with rises reported for chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis.

The HPA's figures suggest that two out of three of the heterosexuals who tested positive so far this year probably contracted the virus in Africa.

The main factors involved in this link are the number of people migrating from Africa, the number of people who have unsafe sex while travelling, and an increase in the number of people in the UK contracting the disease by having unsafe sex with those who were infected outside Europe.

Of course there could be other reasons for the increase in positive test results, including improved services in GUM clinics, and a greater readiness on the part of people in high-risk situations to come forward for testing.

But the report is bound to fuel the concerns of people who claim that public health is being put at risk by immigrants from Africa with chronic diseases such as HIV.

The All-part Parliamentary Group on AIDS suggested last month that the policy of dispersal could lead to asylum seekers in particular failing to receive the necessary treatment and spreading the disease to others in the UK.

The Government is currently conducting a controversial consultation on whether or not to compel immigrants to have HIV tests on entering the UK - a move that is backed by the Conservatives.

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