There has been a 20% increase in new diagnoses of HIV infection in the UK between 2002 and 2003, according to recent figures from Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA), which monitors infectious diseases. New diagnoses in heterosexuals have risen by 27% in the same period, with most infections contracted outside of the UK in countries with a high rate of infection with HIV. The HPA believes that increases in unsafe sex are thought to underlie these figures. “People must be encouraged to take responsibility for their own sexual health,” said Dr Barry Evans from the HPA (HPA).

The increase in rates is also thought to be related to an increase in other sexually transmitted infections, which might influence the transmission of HIV. Nick Partridge of the UK advocacy group, The Terrence Higgins Trust, has urged the UK government to take action — “Modernizing sexual health services ... would be a major step forward in helping to tackle this crisis” (The Terrence Higgins Trust). Deborah Jack from the National AIDS Trust (NAT) said, “The messages of the 1980s are as relevant today as they were then. All sectors of the community need to understand the need for safer sex...” (NAT). According to the HPA Chairman Sir William Stewart, “these are worrying data and worrying trends ... [a problem] that places a huge additional burden on the NHS [National Health Service]” (HPA).