Today, the world is marking World Aids Day. While the disease has become a crisis in Africa and Asia, it is often overlooked that HIV and AIDS are also a grave concern for Western countries. In the UK alone, 80,000 people are living with HIV in the UK and infection rates are going up each year.
Experts believe that a quarter of people living in the UK with HIV are still undiagnosed. While the gay and bisexual community are still the most affected groups, straight people are still at risk of contracting the infection and rates of infection amongst this group are increasing.
Unfortunately, the stigma attached to HIV in the UK that it is a ‘gay’ illness means that many straight people do not consider themselves to be at risk and are less likely to get regular HIV tests, crucial if they have had more than one partner , unprotected sex or have casual sexual partners.
Black and minority communities are especially at risk, with 2,790 new diagnosis made this group, more than the 2,760 new cases reported amonst men who have sex with men.
Thankfully however in the UK patients have access to the best treatment. Whereas once HIV was seen as a death sentence, now those who take appropriate anti-viral drugs can enjoy life expectancies only a small amount less than the UK average. Quick diagnosis is crucial as the sooner treatment begins the longer the overall life expectancy – so getting more people to go more regularly for an HIV test is of paramount importance.
The same is not true of Africa and Asia. The majority of the 33.4 million people living with HIV are from those continents and in 2008 there were 2 million deaths. Anti-viral medications are frequently difficult to come by in developing countries and millions of children have already become ‘AIDS orphans’, after both their parents died of the disease.
Today, governments across the world vowed to do more to eradicate the AIDS epidemic. In South Africa, where up to 20% of the adult population are infected, President Jacob Zuma promised that all infected children under 1 would receive treatment for the disease and committed himself to extending treatment to pregnant women. Gordon Brown and David Cameron recorded a message in support of the day, while the EU called for a strengthening in the response to the disease.
Our sister clinic The STI Clinic is a proud sponsor of World Aids Day and we hope that you will buy and wear a red ribbon. You may also want to consider donating to the National Aids Trust or to Avert, who work in the developing world supporting communities in their fight against the disease.