New HIV cases among gay men in England drop for first time

The number of new cases of HIV in England among men who have sex with men has been successfully brought down for the first time.

Data from Public Health England, published in the journal Eurosurveillance, has shown that only 1,700 gay and bisexual men were diagnosed with the condition in 2015-16, down from 2,060 in 2014-15.

The data, which was collated from 200 sexual health clinics in England, also demonstrated an even more pronounced drop from 880 to 595 – a fall of 32 percent – during this period.

This improvement occurred despite the number of men being tested by clinics for HIV rising by 50 percent, and represents the first time the number of new diagnoses has fallen in this group. New HIV cases among heterosexuals, meanwhile, remained stable.

Increased testing, faster treatment with HIV therapy and the use of preventative therapies have all contributed to the trend, the report indicated.

Valerie Delpech, head of HIV surveillance for Public Health England, said: "There is absolutely no reason why we cannot scale that up to further reduce new infections in gay men – and also in all people who may be at risk of HIV in the UK, regardless of gender, ethnicity or sexuality."

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