More effort is needed to spread HIV/AIDS prevention information among African men and women living in Britain, claim researchers

A survey conducted by the University of Portsmouth revealed commonly-held false beliefs about HIV infection. Approximately half a million Africans live in Britain, according to the 2001 Census, and the Health Protection Agency estimates that 25,000 - one in 20 of them - are infected with HIV, including many who do not realise they have the virus. Specialists have suggested that some of the cultural beliefs common in sub-Saharan Africa, which have contributed to HIV spread there, are also strong in expatriate Africans. The survey of 4,000 African men and women supports this to some extent. More than a third of people who said they had no reason to suspect they had HIV said they had no control over whether or not they became infected, and among those with diagnosed HIV, a quarter said they lacked the ability to make sure they did not pass it to their partners. Many of those questioned said they did not want to use condoms, and many of those who reported using condoms, said that they had torn or slipped during sex. Whilst the vast majority of those questioned knew that HIV could be transmitted through sex and intravenous drug use, one in five did not know about anti-retroviral drugs, and one in three were not aware that the earlier they were taken, the more effective they were likely to be.