Background

AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) was first diagnosed as a clinical condition in 1981 in America, but had probably been occurring in the USA for about 4 years prior to this. The cause of Aids was not found until 1983 when the virus HIV (Human Immunodefiency Virus) was discovered. HIV initially affected America and Europe. Over the last few years the number of cases has risen dramatically with 80% of new cases occurring in developing countries in Africa and Asia. In some African countries almost 1 in 3 adults are infected with HIV. The World Health Organisation predicted that in the early years of the 21st century the number of people infected with HIV would rise to 30-40 million cases worldwide. There are approximately 2,500 new diagnoses of HIV in the UK every year - equivalent to seven new cases every day - and that figure has risen steadily in the last six years. The number of new HIV diagnoses is increasing. This can potentially be attributed to the fact that more people are now coming forward to be tested. According to the latest Government figures to March 2000 there have been 41,174 diagnoses of HIV in the UK and 16,995 AIDS cases. There have been 11,739 AIDS/HIV related deaths.