HIV - An Update

More Gay Men than Ever Before Living with HIV in the UK

Over 3,000 men who have sex with men were diagnosed with HIV last year in the UK. The Health Protection Agency now estimates that there 32,000 gay and bisexual men living with HIV in the UK. One in four of men living with HIV in the UK, aged between 15-49 do not know that they have HIV.

Tom Doyle, Director of Yorkshire MESMAC, commenting in the figures said, ‘The fact that a quarter of gay and bisexual men with HIV do not know that they have it is worrying on a number of levels. First and most important is that we know that the sooner men get their HIV diagnosed the better it is for their physical health, for example there are more treatment options open to them. A further concern is that men may be negotiating sex with their partners without all the facts and so may be unaware of the potential dangers.’

‘We want to make it as easy as possible for men to get an HIV test that is why we run a community HIV testing service which is free, fast and flexible. You can either come along to the Thursday night session between 6pm and 7.30pm or you can call 0113 2444209 to make an appointment that suits you. Once you have had your pre-test discussion with our trained staff we can give you your result within half an hour.

For more information about HIV tests in Yorkshire visit the Testing Times website www.mesmac.co.uk/tt

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