New government HIV and sexual health campaign launches

A new eight million pound scheme has been launched by the government in order to provide information to improve people's sexual health in the UK.

Funding of 6.7 million pounds will be provided to the Terrence Higgins Trust to help prevent HIV in men who have sex with men and people from African communities, who are the groups most vulnerable to the disease.

Meanwhile, the Family Planning Association (FPA) will be given 1.13 million pounds to support its comprehensive specialist sexual health information service for the public and health workers.

This comes in response to official figures revealing that there were 3,000 new HIV diagnoses in men who have sex with men during 2010, the highest number ever reported in a single year.

Sir Nick Partridge, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "It's within our grasp to significantly reduce the rates of new infections by working together with local authorities, clinical services and most importantly the communities most at risk of HIV."

According to data from the World Health Organization, more than 33 million people around the world are currently living with HIV.