News Tonight

Inspite of several awareness campaigns, HIV/AIDS continues to increase its spell not just in poor and developing countries but also in wealthy nations such as the United Kingdom. An analysis of available data has suggested that the country had witnessed more than 91,500 HIV cases, in 2010, followed by 680 related deaths. The figure was a significant increase as compared to 86,500 cases of 2009, although, a quarter of people were not aware about their health condition.

As per the reports, the HIV/AIDS infection rate has increased twice during the last decade. Experts have anticipated increase in the number of men who likes to have sex with men as a possible reason for the hike. Experts have diagnosed more than 3,000 gay men with HIV during 2010 and claimed that one out of 20 gay men is likely to have HIV infection.

While commenting on the figures, an expert from the National AIDS Trust, Deborah Jack, has emphasized on the need of policies that can resolve individual fear regarding HIV testing. "The advances in HIV treatment have been one of the biggest success stories in the 30 years since the virus first emerged, but too many people test too late and so fail to benefit from these drugs”, Deborah Jack added further while urging people to not be scared from HIV testing and remain cautious about its exposure and undiagnosed condition.

The Chief Executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, Sir Nick Partridge, has expressed disappointment over the higher HIV rates in the United Kingdom and insisted that authorities need to launch measures for addressing the matter of sexual health.

Meanwhile, a recently diagnosed report has exposed that around 50% HIVE/AIDS diagnosed people are identified late and therefore tends to spread the disease.