The Department of Health has issued a warning to gay men that cases of HIV have reached record numbers over the past two years. The number of cases amongst the homosexual community diagnosed in 2008 was the second-highest on record, only 3,050 less than in 2007. Experts are unsure what has caused infection rates to double over ten years but believe it is strongly linked to an increase in unsafe sexual practices.
Amongst heterosexuals, there has been a slight decline since infection rates peaked in 2004 at 5000; there were 4,200 cases diagnosed last year. There has been an increase in the number diagnoses after sexual contact in Britain but a decline in those contracting the infection outside of the U.K.
The Health Protection Agency has said that the group most at risk in the U.K continues to be the homosexual community. Nearly 40% of the diagnoses last year were amongst this group and recent studies have indicated that a high proportion of the gay community is engaging in risky sex. There was also concern about the number of people being diagnosed late into the illness, well beyond when treatment should have begun, increasing the chance of death within a year of diagnosis.
Deborah Jack of the National Aids Trust has said that while they welcome the fall in overall cases, it is important to remember that “ gay and bisexual men are still the people most affected by HIV here in the UK - with one 1 in 20 gay and bisexual men infected with HIV.” A spokesperson from the Terence Higgins Trust said, "More people are getting tested, which is good. But some people don't realise they could be at risk, and others take risks despite knowing them. HIV is not a risk worth taking.”