A LEADING sexual health charity is urging people to get tested to halt the spread as HIV as figures show more than 2,000 people now have the disease in Merseyside and Cheshire.

Ahead of England’s third annual National HIV Testing Week, new figures released this week by Public Health England (PHE) show there were an estimated 2,061 people living with HIV in Cheshire and Merseyside in 2013.

Around a quarter of these people were undiagnosed and therefore more likely to pass the virus on.

In response to the figures, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust is urging people who may have been at risk from HIV to test for the virus.

Undiagnosed infection is widely recognised as a key factor driving the UK’s HIV epidemic, as someone who remains undiagnosed is much more likely to pass the virus on unwittingly than someone who has tested and is on treatment.

National HIV Testing Week was established by Terrence Higgins Trust and HIV Prevention England in 2012, in a bid to reduce high levels of undiagnosed and late-diagnosed HIV among high-risk groups in England.

The new figures show there were 132 people newly diagnosed in Cheshire and Merseyside in 2013, a decrease of 2% on the previous year.

The total number of people accessing HIV care in the region was 1,566.

Jackie Redding, service director for Terrence Higgins Trust in the north of England, said: “Reducing undiagnosed HIV is the most important step we can take in our efforts to halt the spread of the epidemic.

“Once people are diagnosed, they can access life-saving treatment that will keep them fit and well. People who are on treatment are also far less likely to pass the virus on unwittingly.

“There are more reasons to know your HIV status than there are not to, so we would encourage local people to get involved with National HIV Testing Week and make a commitment to test.”

Part of HIV Prevention England’s It Starts With Me campaign, National HIV Testing Week runs from November 22 to November 30.

People can find out more about National HIV Testing Week, learn where they can test, and pledge their support for the movement to stop HIV at startswithme.org.uk