New HIV diagnoses in Tendring reached a record high last year, new figures show, but the rate is just half the national average. 

Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows eight people in Tendring were newly diagnosed with the disease last year.

That was the highest figure since comparable records began in 2011.

It was equivalent to 5.2 diagnoses per 100,000 people in the area, also the highest figure since 2011.

Across England, the new diagnosis rate was 10.4 per 100,000 people in 2023 which is the highest figure since 2014.

There were also more people tested for HIV in 2023, with a substantial recovery to 96 per cent of the pre-pandemic testing levels in 2019.

PrEP is a drug taken either daily or before and after sex which can block HIV if it gets into the body.

Takudzwa Mukiwa, head of HIV prevention at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "We need innovation and investment in order to get tests to those who need them, and to improve access to PrEP.

"The Government’s promised new HIV action plan needs to deliver.

"There is still more to do to get the basics right – no one should leave a sexual health or contraception appointment without a test and the cities outside London that have funding to test everyone in A&E for HIV and hepatitis need to expedite the programme’s launch."

Dr Tamara Djuretic, co-head of HIV at the UKHSA, said: "HIV can affect anyone, no matter your gender or sexual orientation, so please get regularly tested and use condoms to protect you and your partners’ health.

"HIV tests are free and provides access to HIV PrEP if needed.

"If you do test positive, treatment is so effective that you can expect to live a long healthy life and you won’t pass HIV on to partners."

Nationally, 96,562 people took PrEP last year, including 79 in Tendring.

The figures also show 80,530 people aged 15 to 59 were living with the disease in England last year, equivalent to 2.4 cases per 1,000 people – a 12-year high.

In Tendring, 1.2 per 1,000 15 to 59-year-olds had HIV last year – also a record high.

But with treatments now available to manage HIV, more people are also living with the condition for longer.