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One in eight gay men in London has HIV according to figures released today, which reveal the disease is three times more prevalent in the capital than the rest of the country.

A report from Public Health England shows 13 per cent of gay men in London have HIV, compared to less than four per cent outside the capital.

The number infected with the virus reached a record high of 108,000 in the UK in 2013, with more than a quarter of carriers unaware they are infected according to Public Health England.

The situation has heightened concerns they are at risk of passing on the infection through unprotected sex and led to calls for gay men to be tested for HIV at least annually.

Last year London had the highest number of new diagnoses among gay men in the country, with 1,470 reported new cases.

The report states 3,250 gay and bisexual men in the capital were newly diagnosed with the virus in 2013, an all-time annual high.

Nationwide it is estimated that over 7,000 gay men have an HIV infection that remains undiagnosed and that an estimated 2,800 men acquired HIV in 2013.

Last year, medical journal The Lancet attributed a 33 per cent rise in the HIV rate on the previous year to “high-risk” practices in the London gay scene, including men taking party drugs such as crystal meth, mephedrone and GHB/GBL as a stimulant while attending sex parties.

Public Health England said the figures released today underlined the need to further increase both the numbers and frequency of HIV tests, seen as critical to tackling the ongoing high levels of HIV transmission.

Dr Valerie Delpech, of Public Health England, said: “We can’t overstate the importance of testing for HIV to ensure an early diagnosis.

“People diagnosed promptly with HIV infection can expect to live long and healthy lives.”

Deborah Gold, chief executive of National Aids Trust, said: “There is in our society a dangerous complacency about the challenge of HIV.

“Rates of new infections among gay men show no signs of abating but funding for HIV prevention from local authorities is patchy and in many places non-existent.”

She said it was taking far too long to get new prevention options to the gay men who need them.

A £3.4m, three year HIV prevention programme funded by London Councils was launched this year in the capital. The scheme includes condom distribution and outreach work.