The following information is taken from the Public Health England report Trends in HIV testing, new diagnoses and people receiving HIV-related care in the United Kingdom [PDF] from November 2020, which covers data to the end of December 2019.
The total number of people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2019 was 4,139, a 10% fall from 4,580 in 2018 and a fall of 34% from a peak of 6,312 new diagnoses reported in 2014.
The decline in new HIV diagnoses in recent years is largely driven by a steep fall in diagnoses among gay and bisexual men from a peak of 3,214 in 2014 to 1,700 diagnoses in 2019. The steepest declines were observed among gay and bisexual men of white ethnicity, born in the UK, aged 15-24 and resident in London.
There were 1,599 new HIV diagnoses among people who probably acquired HIV through heterosexual contact in 2019, a 6% fall from 1,664 in 2018 and a fall of 33% from 2,336 in 2014.
Among black African heterosexuals, HIV test positivity among men continued to fall to 0.3% but remained at 0.5% among women.
Black African heterosexuals who were born in a country with a high diagnosed HIV prevalence had a higher HIV test positivity than those born elsewhere (0.7% vs 0.1%) and accounted for 88% of new diagnoses among black African heterosexuals.
In the discussion section of the report, it says:
‘Further work is needed to address the inequalities in the progress towards reducing undiagnosed infection and HIV transmission that exist in relation to HIV, geography and ethnicity.
‘HIV elimination can only be achieved by combination prevention; by bringing together prevention interventions such as high levels and frequency of HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), rapid linkage to care and treatment, and support so people with diagnosed HIV attain viral suppression.’ People with undetectable viral loads can’t pass the virus on.
Looking at the data from 2019 in relation to ethnicity, we can see that where ethnicity is known:
- 44% of people newly diagnosed with HIV were not of white ethnicity.
- 68% of women newly diagnosed with HIV were not of white ethnicity.
- 60% of heterosexuals newly diagnosed with HIV were not of white ethnicity
- 28% of men who have sex with men were not of white ethnicity.