As the UNAIDS Epidemic Report 2009 was published this month, Tearfund claims that ignorance and prejudice still abound, even in the church.

In the UK alone, 73,000 people are living with HIV, which is double the number in 2000. Britain has almost twice as many new HIV cases diagnosed in a year than any other country in Western Europe.

Veena O’Sullivan, who manages development agency Tearfund's HIV Unit, said: “It is devastating that almost three decades after HIV was first identified, stigma and ignorance are thriving, both here in the UK and overseas. It remains one of the greatest barriers to successfully changing the story of the Aids pandemic.”

She added; “The church at its best can be a source of great hope and support to people living with or affected by HIV. In our work across the world, day in, day out we see church volunteers caring for orphans, the sick and bereaved, helping people get access to treatment and crucially, challenging stigma.

“But ignorance and prejudice remain within the church and until these harmful attitudes are completely let go of, the church’s efforts will be undermined.”

The UK Government is to launch a pilot scheme which will see HIV testing become a routine procedure in GP surgeries.

It is feared that 50 per cent of all HIV infections in Europe are undiagnosed and in the UK this figure is 25 per cent.

The pilot scheme is to be launched in places such as Brighton, Leicester and Lewisham. According to the UNAIDS Epidemic Report 2009, this week, 33.4 million people are currently living with HIV worldwide.

Additionally, 2.7 million were infected in 2008 and two million people died because of Aids-related illnesses in 2008 around the globe. However, global HIV infections were down 17 per cent over the last eight years.

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