Source – https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/<\/p>\n
A new report by Public Health England shows that for the first time the number of new HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men outnumber new diagnoses in heterosexual adults by only 100 cases.<\/p>\n
The number of gay and bisexual men (GBM<\/abbr>) with newly diagnosed\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0fell to the lowest point in 20 years,\u00a0according to a new report\u00a0from Public Health England (PHE<\/abbr>) published today.<\/p>\n The report shows there were 1,700 new\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0diagnoses in\u00a0GBM<\/abbr>\u00a0in 2019 compared to 1,500 in 2000.<\/p>\n Overall, the number of people with a new\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0diagnoses fell by 10% (from 4,580 in 2018 to 4,139 in 2019). There was also a 34% decline from a peak of 6,312 new diagnoses in 2014.<\/p>\n There were 1,700 new\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0diagnoses in gay and bisexual men (GBM<\/abbr>) in 2019 compared to around 1,600 cases in heterosexual adults. This is the lowest number of new\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0diagnoses in\u00a0GBM<\/abbr>\u00a0since the year 2000 (1,500) and since 1998 in heterosexual adults (1,600).<\/p>\n HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0transmission in\u00a0GBM<\/abbr>\u00a0has fallen by 80%; newly acquired\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0infections fell from an estimated peak of 2,700 cases in 2011 to an estimated 540 in 2019 (see background information).<\/p>\n While the proportion of people diagnosed late remained high at 42%, the overall number decreased from around 1,900 in 2015 to 1,300 in 2019. People diagnosed late in 2019 had an eight-fold risk of death compared to those diagnosed promptly.<\/p>\n The decline in\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0transmission in\u00a0GBM<\/abbr>\u00a0can be directly linked to the increase in combination prevention, including:<\/p>\n the use of condoms<\/p>\n<\/li>\n pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP<\/abbr>)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n frequent\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0testing in a wide range of settings<\/p>\n<\/li>\n starting antiretroviral therapy (ART<\/abbr>) as soon as possible after diagnosis<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Treatment is now so effective that 97% of people receiving\u00a0ART<\/abbr>\u00a0have undetectable levels of virus, which means it is impossible to pass the virus on, even if having sex without condoms. Undetectable = untransmittable (U=U).<\/p>\n HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0testing is vital for preventing\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>-related illness and death and to achieve the goal of ending\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0transmission in the UK by 2030. The UK continues to meet the United Nations Programme on\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0and AIDS (UNAIDS)\u00a090-90-90 targets\u00a0for the third consecutive year \u2013 however, there are opportunities to improve uptake of testing and support those testing positive to continue their treatment.<\/p>\n Almost 300,000 people declined to have an\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0test when they attended a specialist sexual health service. Black African heterosexual women attendees were more likely to decline a test than Black African heterosexual men (20% versus 9% declined testing) but less likely than heterosexual women and men overall (25% versus 13%). More focused conversations on\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>, testing, prevention and treatment in schools and clinical settings can help to combat high rates of declined tests.<\/p>\n By comparison, only 4% of\u00a0GBM<\/abbr>\u00a0attending specialist sexual health services declined an\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0test \u2013 this is the group in which greatest declines in\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0transmission have been achieved.<\/p>\n Dr Valerie Delpech, Head of\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0Surveillance at\u00a0PHE<\/abbr>, said:<\/p>\n In the UK, we have made great progress towards eliminating\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0transmission by 2030. Frequent\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0testing, the offer of\u00a0PrEP<\/abbr>\u00a0among those most at risk of\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>, together with prompt treatment among those diagnosed, remain key to ending\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0transmission by 2030.<\/p>\n Further progress can only be achieved if we also address the inequalities in reducing\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0transmission that exist around sexuality, ethnicity and geography.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The most common way of getting\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0in the UK is through sex with a person who is unaware of their\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0infection.<\/p>\n You can protect yourself from\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0by consistent and correct condom use with new and casual partners, by using\u00a0PrEP<\/abbr>, or if your partner is on treatment and is undetectable if they are living with\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>. Correct and consistent condom use will also stop you getting or transmitting other sexually transmitted diseases (STIs<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n People can get tested through free tests available from sexual health clinics,\u00a0GP<\/abbr>\u00a0surgeries, as well as through a self-sampling service or by using a self-testing kit.<\/p>\n Those at risk of\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0and\u00a0STIs<\/abbr>\u00a0can still access services through sexual health clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many clinics offer online testing, which means people can order tests using clinic websites, take them in the privacy of their own home, return by post and receive results via text, phone call or post.<\/p>\n New\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0diagnoses reflect diagnoses that occurred within a year. Since people can live with\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0for many years without being aware of their\u00a0HIV<\/abbr>\u00a0infection, trends in diagnoses do not necessarily reflect trends in newly acquired infections. We use models to estimate newly acquired infections (infections acquired recently) for gay and bisexual men only.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4145,1679,3899,52,4146],"class_list":["post-6082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aids-hiv","tag-bisexual","tag-diagnoses","tag-gay","tag-hiv","tag-lowest"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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Background information<\/h3>\n