The number of new HIV diagnoses in Bracknell Forest reached a record high last year, new figures show.

A spokesperson for the Terrence Higgins Trust, an HIV charity, called the record-high diagnosis rates "sobering", and called for more investment to get tests to those who need them.

Data from the UK Health Security Agency shows 14 people in Bracknell Forest were newly diagnosed with the disease last year – the highest figure since comparable records began in 2011.

This was equivalent to 10.9 diagnoses per 100,000 people in the area, also the highest figure since 2011.

Deputy CEO of Thames Valley Positive Support Jessica Harding said that there needs to be more information available about HIV diagnosis to end the stigma. 

"The advances in HIV medication are huge, but unfortunately we haven't really kept pace with attitudes and education," she said. 

"There is still an awful lot of stigma. If a person is taking their medication they cannot pass on HIV to sexual partners. That is massive and such an incredible leap forward!"

Ms Harding went on to say that she feels that there isn't enough recognition for this in the wider public as there hasn't been a campaign since the 80s.

Those ads circulating back then used images of tombstones to warn people of aids, which is an icon Ms Harding says people need to move on from. 

Across England, the new diagnosis rate was 10.4 per 100,000 people in 2023 – almost double the rate from 2020, when diagnoses dropped sharply during the pandemic, and the highest figure since 2014.

There were also more people tested for HIV in 2023, with a substantial recovery to 96% of the testing levels in 2019.

This was largely due to a 34% rise in testing for gay and bisexual men, as there was a 10% and 22% decline in testing among heterosexual and bisexual women, and heterosexual men respectively.

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.

"An HIV test is 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."

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

Nationally, 96,562 people took PrEP last year, including 111 in Bracknell Forest.

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 and record high rate.

In Bracknell Forest, 1.55 per 1,000 15 to 59-year-olds had HIV last year.

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