Number of HIV sufferers in Cornwall has risen by 33 percent since 2010

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The number of people living with HIV in Cornwall has increased by 33 percent since 2010, new figures have revealed.

But experts say the increase is due to people with the illness living longer thanks to effective treatment, rather than rates of transmission going up.

The news comes at the start of HIV week, which runs from today until November 30, when sexually active men and women are being urged to go and get tested.

Louise Sweeney, a public health practitioner with Cornwall Council’s Public Health Team, said: “The nature of HIV has changed massively in the last few decades, from the frightening and often fatal virus of the 1980s and early 90s to a virus that can be supressed with effective treatment meaning someone diagnosed in their twenties can expect to live a normal life.

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“Many people diagnosed late with HIV in Cornwall fall outside of the key groups most affected by HIV. That’s why it’s important to get tested early and often”.

Statistics show that one in five people infected with HIV is unaware they are carrying the virus.

The number of people diagnosed with HIV is relatively low in Cornwall, but the majority are diagnosed at a late or very late stage of infection, which can increase in the risk of serious illness – or death.

Sufferers can live with HIV for many years without symptoms, increasing the risk of late diagnosis and of the virus being unknowingly passed to others.

Dr Kathryn Eccleston, a consultant in HIV Medicine at the Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske, said: “We offer anyone attending a sexual health clinic an HIV test as part of a routine screen.

“Testing for HIV is quick and easy to do, and even if your risk is very low, it is an important diagnosis to exclude. If you’ve ever had unprotected sex, you should consider having a test.”

Public Health Cornwall said: “During National HIV testing week we are reminding people that HIV is a risk for sexually active people of all ages, but especially men who have sex with men and black African groups.

“The best way to reduce this risk is to use condoms correctly and consistently, and until all partners have had a sexual health screen. This can also help protect against other STI’s which can increase the risk of HIV”.

GPs can offer tests, as can open-access sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics like the sexual health hub at Treliske.

Self-sampling kits are also offered online, which Public Health Cornwall said were useful “if you find other services difficult to access”.

Number of HIV sufferers in Cornwall has risen by 33 percent since 2010