Rise in number accessing HIV treatment

In 2015, there were 88,769 people in the UK who were HIV positive and accessing treatment according to Public Health England.  Around 70% of these are men.  This is a significantly larger number than in 2006, which shows the improvement made in HIV treatment in the last ten years.  The average age of people accessing treatment has increased from 39 to 45 in the last ten years.

While each new diagnosis has its own story, the outlook for someone newly diagnosed with HIV is more positive than ever before.  People are accessing treatment, the medication no longer has the side effects once associated with it. Indeed there is now a choice of effective medications, so that if one does not work for you, there are several alternative choices to find the right one.

Most people who are accessing treatment have suppressed the virus.  This means, although they are HIV positive, they are unlikely to pass the infection on.  This is good news for both the person’s sex life, their own emotions, and for their current and future partners.  Men have slightly higher levels than women at suppressing the virus (95% in MSM and heterosexual men and 93% in women).  More studies need to be done to understand if this is biological or remembering to take the medication regularly.

With further advancements in treatment all the time, getting an HIV test is not the scary experience it once was.  At Better2Know we simply book your appointment, answer any questions that you have (not ones about your personal life), take your blood sample and get you fast and accurate results.  Call our booking team today on the number above to book your appointment.