From 1982, when surveillance began, to the end of June 2005, 72,938 people have been diagnosed with HIV in the UK1

• 52,667 have been male, 20,271 female
• 21,552 have progressed to AIDS, of whom 61% (13,225) have died
• A further 3,233 have died without progressing to AIDS

HIV remains predominantly a problem of the large conurbations. Of new diagnoses in the UK in 2004, 41% were in London, and a further 20% in the regions adjacent to London.1 Of those reported from Scotland, 32% were in the Greater Glasgow area, and 31% in Lothian.2

While, cumulatively, HIV has been spread most commonly by homosexual sex, and the number of cases acquired in this way is still rising, more recently this has been overtaken by heterosexual sex as the major route, with a corresponding sharp increase in the number of women infected.