Get tested annually, gays urged as HIV rates rise

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Times

Gay men are being urged to practise safe sex and have an annual HIV test in an attempt to halt a rise in infections in the UK.

HIV infection is contining to grow, although the rate of increase has slowed, according to figures from the Health Protection Agency.

Last year 6,840 new cases were recorded, slightly fewer than in 2006. More than a third — 2,630 — were gay men, making 2007 the third successive year that new diagnoses among gay men have exceeded 2,600.

An estimated 690 new HIV diagnoses last year were thought to be via heterosexual transmission, compared with 730 cases reported in 2006. Increased testing is likely to have contributed to the high number of diagnoses, the agency said.



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