NEWS: HIV Infections Continue To Rise In London’s Gay Community

<p>New HIV Infections in men who have sex with men are continuing to increase in London.</p> <p>By Newsdesk | 25th July 2013</p><p></p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.thegayuk.com/communities/8/004/009/928/388/images/4596118758.jpg" width="300" height="371" alt="Getty Images" title="Getty Images"/></p> <p></p><p>New HIV diagnoses in London's gay men continues to soar, a report by The Lancet has confirmed. New infections have risen sharply from 2011 to 2012 according to the latest statistics from the government.</p><p></p><p>The latest statistics from Public Health England (PHE) confirm that HIV infections are rising. 1296 new HIV infections were thought to have occurred in London’s MSM in 2011, however new data from PHE updates this figure to 1420 new infections. </p><p></p><p>The latest figures for 2012 show that 1720 new infections had occurred, an increase of 21% on the previous year’s infections, however the Lancet reports:</p><p></p><p>“…Based on how data has been updated over time in previous years, the final 2012 figure could easily rise to 1900 or more, a rise of at least 33% compared with 2011.”</p><p></p><p>Some of the rises seen in 2011-2012 can be attributed to an increase in HIV testing, with outreach projects such as 56 Dean Street’s weekly testing programme at G-A-Y bar in Old Compton Street. </p><p></p><p>56 Dean Street is a sexual health in the middle of what The Lancet is calling an MSM HIV epidemic. David Stuart who manages the Antidote Substance Misuse Service at London Friend—a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender health and wellbeing charity—that also operates the CODE Clinic, a service run in conjunction with 56 Dean St that caters for MSM who have high-risk drug use and sexual practices said:</p><p></p><p> “Some gay men are preferring to have sex without condoms for a variety of complicated reasons associated with a changing HIV health situation and using drugs to manage a complex relationship to sex, intimacy, and gay identity. Mix this with an alarming increase in injecting use and a reluctance to access traditional drug services, and the potential for a costly and culturally harmful epidemic of HIV and HCV and drug use is enormous”, says Stuart. “We need to support the sexual health clinics and substance use sectors to do shared, tailored work, and improve targeting and monitoring so empirical data can qualify this anecdotal concern.”</p><p></p><p>Lisa Power, Policy Director for Terrence Higgins Trust, said:</p><p> </p><p>“Partly these numbers represent greater testing amongst gay men most at risk, which is a positive thing. But there is a need for a greater focus within London HIV prevention work on helping gay men who are encountering difficulties with drugs and safer sex and also on encouraging others to avoid these problems and resist peer pressure.</p><p> </p><p>“Doing more relies on investment by London’s local authorities. While there are some face-to-face services funded, there is currently no London funding for online or printed materials to inform gay men of the dangers they face and counter the emerging community norms of using drugs for sex.</p><p> </p><p>“We know that HIV prevention measures can work. Only by investing in promoting testing, encouraging condom use, and supporting those who are at high risk, will we start to see the numbers fall again.”</p><p></p><p>TheGayUK has launched its free condom postage service in response to the latest findings in conjunction with The Freedoms Shop. To find out more visit: <a href="http://www.noexcuseproject.co.uk/">http://www.noexcuseproject.co.uk</a> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> </p>