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VIRUS SHOCK

Alarming figures show HIV is soaring in Scotland as outbreak among Glasgow drug users ‘shows no sign of slowing’

The number of new cases leapt up by 16 per cent between 2016 and last year but dropped by 17 per cent across Britain as a whole

ALARMING stats show HIV diagnoses are soaring in Scotland - in stark contrast to falling figures south of the border.

The number of new cases leapt up by 16 per cent between 2016 and last year but dropped by 17 per cent across Britain as a whole.

 Yusef Azad of National Aids Trust
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Yusef Azad of National Aids Trust

The worst outbreak for decades among injecting drug users in Glasgow is being blamed for the shocking increase.

The figures emerged as charity chiefs claimed efforts to tackle the crisis by opening a medically supervised heroin clinic in the city have been snubbed by the Home Office.


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Yusef Azad, of the National Aids Trust, said: “In Glasgow the outbreak that was first detected amongst people who inject drugs in 2015 is showing no signs of slowing.

“We are advocating for the opening of a drug consumption room as all evidence points to their effectiveness in reducing needle sharing and drug-related deaths – but this has been blocked by Westminster.”

Health Protection Scotland figures show new diagnoses rose from 197 in 2016 to 228 last year.

In England the number fell from 5,280 to 4,363 over the same period.

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