New HIV Diagnoses Have Fallen By Almost A Third In England In The Last Three Years
New data from Public Health England has shown that new diagnoses of HIV are falling in England.
“There were 6,271 new diagnoses in 2015, compared to 4,484 in 2018, marking a 28% fall over the last few years.”
“The biggest decline in new diagnoses of HIV were noted among men who have sex with men, especially those living in London – where new diagnoses among gay and biseuxal men have halved from 1,459 in 2015 to 736 in 2018.”
“Unfortunately, today’s data shows we are still not tackling late diagnosis of HIV. This is where we must redouble efforts; we cannot be complacent,” said Kat Smithson, Director of Policy at National AIDS Trust.
“This year the Health Secretary committed to ending HIV transmissions by 2030. This ambitious target will not be achieved if funding for sexual health services continues to disappear as demand increases.
“As well as reinvesting in sexual health, and upscaling HIV testing, we urgently need to finally deliver what every UK nation except England already has: the HIV prevention pill PrEP free to all who need it on the NHS.
“It would be a disaster to jeopardise the success we’ve seen today by losing focus.”
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