New data shows progress in HIV testing, diagnoses and treatment for people living with HIV

March 11, 2024

New data shows progress in HIV testing, diagnoses and treatment for people living with HIV

Let’s start with some good news! The UK has met, and exceeded, the UNAIDs 90-90-90 targets for 2020*

UNAIDS established the global 90-90-90 targets in 2014. The aim was for:

90% of all people living with HIV to be diagnosed
90% of those diagnosed to receive HIV treatment and
90% of those receiving treatment to achieve viral suppression, by 2020

In 2019, it was estimated there were 105,200 people living with HIV in the UK and:

94% of these people were diagnosed (knew they had HIV)
98% of people diagnosed with HIV in the UK were engaged in care and on treatment, and
97% of those engaged and on treatment were virally suppressed which means they can’t pass the virus on

The latest figures - how many people are living with HIV?

The World Health Organisation’s recent figures show that in 2022 39million people were living with HIV globally.**

How many people knew their status in 2022?

Recent data from UNAIDS*** shows that globally in 2022:

86% of people living with HIV knew their HIV status (knew they had HIV)
89% of people who knew their HIV status were accessing treatment
93% of those engaged and on treatment were virally suppressed so #Can’tPassItOn

Modes of transmission:

Of the 102,168 people accessing HIV care in the UK in 2022, the probable exposure is known for 95.9% of these. 95.4% of people accessing HIV care in 2022 acquired HIV through sexual transmission. The modes of transmission were:

48.6% through sex between men and women
46.9% through sex between men
1.8% through injecting drug use
1.8% through vertical transmission (when HIV is passed from mother to baby)*

The most recent statistics for people newly diagnosed - how many people have been newly diagnosed with HIV?

4,040 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK in 2022. Out of these 63.44% were men and 36.4% were women.*

What ages were the newly diagnosed?

71.9% of people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2022 were aged between 25 and 49.

The number of people being diagnosed with HIV later in life has grown since 2018, with almost 20% of all new diagnoses being in people aged 50 or over in 2022.*

Modes of transmission:

74.4% of new diagnoses in 2022 were due to sexual transmission. The probable exposure that saw the largest number of new diagnoses in 2022 was sex between men and women, followed closely by sex between men.*

What are the most recent figures for people diagnosed late?

Someone is considered to have been diagnosed late with HIV if they have a CD4 count below 350 cells/mm³ within three months (91 days) of diagnosis. In 2022, 3,292 individuals diagnosed with HIV had their CD4 count identified within 91 days of diagnosis. 1,136 (34.5%) of these individuals were diagnosed at a late stage of HIV infection.*

People who are diagnosed late have been living with undiagnosed HIV for around three to five years. Late diagnosis increases the risk of ill-health, early death and onward transmission of HIV.*

Probable exposure for late diagnoses

In 2022 the probable exposure for those diagnosed late was:

48% (the highest proportion of late diagnoses) through injecting drug use
46% through men who had sex with women
29% through men who had sex with men (the lowest proportion of late diagnoses)*

Why is it important to #knowYourStatus and start treatment?

Firstly, HIV is 3 letters, not a sentence!

Antiretroviral treatments (ART's) are now so effective, that if they are taken correctly the HIV virus can be supressed to undetectable levels and you can live an active and healthy life and have a normal life expectancy. The ARTs stop the virus from reproducing and that means your immune system can repair itself and isn’t further damaged. BUT this can only happen if you test and know your status. If you don’t test, you can’t treat!

Sexual transmission is the most common mode of transmission. Correct treatment means that the virus is supressed to undetectable levels, and the totally amazing part is that not only is your own health protected, but it is proven that you cannot pass the virus on, even through unprotected sex!

HIV is treatable but only IF you #KnowYourStatus!

Again, if you don't test, you can't treat. From 2013 to 2022, the number of people accessing HIV care increased by almost 27%*.

The evidence speaks for itself:

As people can now live longer, healthier lives with correct HIV treatment we have seen the number of people with an HIV diagnosis who are aged 50+ increase in recent years. So:

Almost half (49.8%) of people accessing HIV care in 2022 were aged 50+, and 8.9% were 65+
Over time, the number of people living with HIV aged 50-64 has increased and this group is now bigger than the 35-49 years age group. This shows how effective treatment is helping people to live longer with HIV*.

Reduced number of people being diagnosed with of HIV

The number of people newly acquiring HIV has decreased by 54% since the peak in 1996 and since 2010, new HIV infections have declined by 32%, from 2.2 million to 1.5 million in 2021 and now down to 1.3million in 2022. This demonstrates significant progress in the fight against HIV.****

Global 2025 AIDS Targets from UNAIDS

UNAIDS is leading a process for the development of updated HIV targets and estimates of the resources needed for the global AIDS response up to 2030. The 95-95-95 testing and treatment targets for 2025 are:

for 95% of all people living with HIV to know their status
for 95% of people living with HIV to receive HIV antiretroviral treatment
95% of those receiving treatment to be virally supressed (undetectable)
95% coverage of services for eliminating vertical transmission (mother to baby)
95% of women having access to HIV, reproductive and sexual health services
And 95% of people at risk of acquiring HIV having access to effective combination prevention options*****

So, #GetTested and #KnowYourStatus because together we can #EndHIV