London, Dec.07, (PRINTWORDS NEWS) As the World AIDS Day was observed across the world on December 1, the day seemed all the more pertinent for United Kingdom as the number of people infected with the deadly HIV virus in the country is on the rise, according to a recent report. Concerns are mounting as it has been expressed that around a quarter of those who have contracted the virus are still unaware that they have been infected. The Health Protection Agency has released its annual report that implies that out of the 83,000 infected cases, around 22,000 people still remain in darkness about their infected condition. However, the bad news does not just end here, as it has also been revealed that the total number of estimated cases of people getting infected by the virus has escalated to 8 per cent from 2007 to 2008.

The revelation has come as a rude shock to the heath officials as the massive efforts that have been undertaken in order to control the spread of the virus would suffer a major setback if people infected with the virus remain unaware of their condition. Moreover, the report has also implied that the number of people infected with the virus is expected to increase further as the longevity of the people increases with effective therapy. Another worrying postulate of the report highlighted late diagnosis as a major concern with around 32 per cent of adults in the past year failing to get diagnosed with the infection at the right time and treatment began much later which considerably reduced their chances of recovery. Moreover, despite the fact that infections in gay and bisexual men has decreased to a large extent, it remains to be one of the high risking groups with around 7,300 cases of infection surfacing in 2008.

Dr.Valerie Delpech, a Health Protection Agency HIV expert added, “HIV is a serious infection but if diagnosed early, there are very good treatment options. Of concern is that over 22,000 people remain unaware of their infection in the UK and cannot therefore benefit from effective treatment.” At the same time, Dr. Delpech also highlighted the positive details of the report which revealed that an increasing number of patients have undergone HIV test in the various STI clinics across the country. However, it has also been implied that the only way by which late diagnosis can be prevented is by undertaking more comprehensive awareness programs and also making sure that these programs are implemented in the proper fashion. At the same time, another step that seems to be of imperative need is to eliminate the stigma that is generally associated with a HIV test, which usually prevents people from undergoing the test.

While reacting to the report, National AIDS Trust, chief executive, Deborah Jack has implied that despite all the efforts that have been taken to curb the spread of the infection, UK has failed miserably in bringing the situation under control. Further highlighting the government’s inability to tackle HIV, Jack has emphasized that over the past few years the infection has been politically sidelined in the country with lack of spending at the local level, which has further complicated the situation.

AIDS is one of the most devastating pandemic in recorded history across the globe. With its ever increasing death toll of more than 25 million people world wide and the rapid spread of the infection, it poses a major challenge to governments across the world to come up with productive measures to counter the disease.

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