UK HIV & AIDS Statistics for Women and Children

Graphic Version of the Heading

The latest statistics on AIDS & HIV in the UK were published in March 2008 by the Health Protection Agency.1

The first of the tables below shows that the number of women diagnosed with heterosexually acquired HIV has increased sharply since the early 1990s. Around 51% of these women were diagnosed when aged between 25 and 34 years old.

The second table shows that the number of babies born with HIV in the UK has been kept at a relatively constant level, despite the massive increase in births to HIV-positive women. This reflects the success of programmes to prevent mother-to-child transmission, which generally involve antiretroviral drug treatment and avoidance of breastfeeding. In 1997, around 20% of babies born in the UK to HIV-infected mothers are thought to have become infected; by 2004, the estimated proportion had dropped to around 4%.2

UK HIV infections among women, probably acquired through heterosexual sex, by age group and year of diagnosis

Year of diagnosis Age group (years)
<20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+ Unk. Total
1991 or earlier
51 311 379 210 102 49 29 20
 8 8
 11 1,178
1992 10 120 134 114 26 19 5 7 5
 1
 0 441
1993 11 67
 152 101 46 18 9 5 5 1 2 417
1994 13 67 148 124 42 27 6
 6 6 5 1 445
1995 9 61 150 118 71 27 13 10 6 3
 0 468
1996 13 60 147 134 68 28 16 7 9 6 1 489
1997 13 78 142 154 97 38 24 14 6 5 0 571
1998 20 74 187 164 111 45 26 13 8 2 0 650
1999 16 110 208 238 162 64 35 11 10 9 1 864
2000 30 159 314 340 215 92 54 34 17 14 0 1,269
2001 49
 231 481 495 289 148 60 52 26 20 0 1,851
2002 68 306 654 604 436 194 105 48
 31 14 0 2,478
2003 92 375 748 785 479 266 138 57 36 21 0 3,024
2004 124 370 741 677 475 274 116 80 30
 32 0 2,966
2005 73 337 645 695 501
 276 137 78 37 37 0 2,883
2006 71 209 498 565 415
 242 132 67 38 40
 0
 2,478
2007 16 38 106 108 314
 181
 106
 41
 23
 31
 0 1,644
Total 693 3,016 5,823 5,598 3,849 1,988 1,011
 550 301
 249 16 24,116

Children born in the UK to HIV infected mothers: infection status by year of birth

Year of birth Infected Indeterminate* Not infected Total
1991 or earlier 153 53 184 390
1992 54 14 48 116
1993 56 19 40 115
1994 49 24 51 124
1995 51 14 59 124
1996 53 18 84 155
1997 59 10 91 160
1998 47 14 124 185
1999 41 17 196 254
2000 55 32 300 387
2001 31 67 412 510
2002 36 58 549 643
2003 27 62 807 896
2004 33 73 925 1,031
2005 32
 97
 1,009
 1,138
2006 22
 238
 879
 1,139
2007 5
 513
 276
 794
Total 804 1,323 6,034
 8,161

* Aged less than 18 months when last tested positive for HIV antibody and without other evidence of HIV infection - see note below

Notes

Numbers, particularly for recent years, will rise as further reports are received.

Due to rounding to the nearest whole number, percentages may appear not to total 100%.

Because antibodies from an HIV-positive mother may remain in her baby's bloodstream for a few months after birth, the results of early HIV antibody tests may be inconclusive. After further testing, most indeterminate cases from recent years will be reclassified as either infected or not infected. Most pregnant women living with HIV in the UK benefit from interventions that can reduce the likelihood of HIV transmission to less than 2% (as opposed to 20-45% without interventions).

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Sources:

  1. HPA Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (HIV and STI Department) and the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health: Unpublished Surveillance Tables No. 77, 07/4, March 2008
  2. Reducing Mother to Child Transmission of HIV Infection in the United Kingdom: Update Report of an Intercollegiate Working Party [PDF], July 2006

Last updated March 31, 2008