New HIV Diagnoses Surge In England. Who Is Hit Hardest And Why?
The latest annual HIV surveillance data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows a 15% increase between 2022 and 2023 in new HIV cases in England. This surge is hitting ethnic minorities and those outside London the hardest.
The numbers are grim
New HIV diagnoses are up among gay and bisexual men, as well as straight men and women. But it’s minorities who are bearing the brunt. In 2023, 40% of all new HIV cases were caught late, especially in people over 50, men who had sex with women, and minorities. For Black people, late-stage diagnosis jumped by a whopping 40% from 2022.
“Many of these new diagnoses are people already on meds and virally suppressed,” said Kate Nambiar from Terrence Higgins Trust. She wants the data to be clear, so people know where help is needed most.
Despite the rise in new HIV cases, there has been an increase in the number of people accessing PrEP, a drug that helps prevent the transmission of HIV. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are more likely to begin or continue taking PrEP compared to heterosexual men or women.
Similarly, more people are getting tested for HIV, although the figures are still lower than they were before the covid-19 pandemic, with gay and bisexual men more likely to get tested than heterosexual men.
Richard Angell, chief executive at Terrence Higgins Trust, stressed the need for innovation and new resources to address these health inequalities and reach the government’s 2030 goal of ending new HIV cases in the UK. “Time is of the essence,” he said, calling for urgent action to tackle this growing crisis.
