The fight just got tough

Adapted from Metro News. @metro.co.uk

One in five people in Britain is unaware that HIV is transmitted through unprotected sex.
Experts fear the number of people with HIV, which can lead to Aids, will increase dramatically as ignorance about the virus grows.

About 21 per cent of people did not know that unprotected sex spreads the virus, a survey showed, compared with just nine per cent eight years ago.
And 31 per cent of people were unaware that sharing a needle also spreads HIV, compared with 12 per cent in 2000.

Deborah Jack, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: 'In recent years we have witnessed knowledge and understanding about HIV decline at the same time that HIV diagnoses have reached an all-time high.

By 2010 there will be over 100,000 people living with HIV in the UK if current trends continue. We cannot afford to be complacent about HIV education.'
Only six per cent of people could correctly identify the four main ways HIV is spread: unprotected sex, blood transfusions, shared needles and via breast-feeding.
Ms Jack added: 'Ignorance about HIV increases vulnerability to infection and also contributes to stigma and discrimination.'

But the Public Attitudes Towards HIV survey did show that more than two-thirds of people claimed it would not affect their relationship if a relative or neighbor had HIV.

-Cheri