An Aids charity is calling on councillors and political groups to tackle high rates of HIV in the lead up to the local elections.

The National Aids Trust has urged candidates facing the vote in May to promise to invest in HIV prevention services and commission local HIV support services to help the 32,500 people living with HIV across London.

Kensington and Chelsea has the third highest rates of diagnosed HIV in the whole of the UK, with one in 109 people living with the virus. This is more than four times the rate in Harrow, where one in 467 people have been diagnosed.

However, based on individual people accessing care, some of the highest figures were in Westminster, where 1,373 people aged 15-59 are HIV positive (one in 114) and 990 in Hammersmith and Fulham (one in 278).

HIV prevalence per borough across London

Yusef Azad, director of policy and campaigns at the charity, said: “Failing to invest in HIV prevention and testing would seriously harm public health and will cost local councils and the NHS in the long term.

“The May 2014 elections will be the first to take place since local authorities regained responsibility for public health - now councillors and political groups in London can make a lasting difference to the lives of people with HIV, those at a higher risk of contracting the virus and the generations to come.”

Currently, all but one London borough (Havering) is classified as ‘high prevalence’, meaning at least two people in every 1,000 are living with HIV. These figures, based on data from 2012, do not include the estimated 22 per cent of people who are undiagnosed.

In Kensington and Chelsea alone, 38 per cent of people living with HIV are diagnosed late, meaning they have had the virus for at least four years. Although this is better than the England average of 48 per cent, people diagnosed late have an 11-fold increased risk of death within one year compared to those diagnosed promptly.

The charity is calling on people to write to their local councillors and election candidates asking them to commit to tackling HIV.

Number of people diagnosed with HIV:

  • Westminster - 1,373
  • Hammersmith and Fulham - 990
  • Kensington and Chelsea - 958
  • Brent - 827
  • Ealing - 704
  • Hounslow - 611
  • Hillingdon - 460
  • Harrow – 321