Three decades on since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the UK, knowledge about HIV is still worryingly low among the general public. Research into public knowledge and attitudes to HIV, commissioned in 2010, reveals serious gaps in knowledge of HIV.

The survey, conducted on our behalf by Ipsos MORI found:

• One in five adults do not realise HIV is transmitted through sex without a condom between men and women
• Only 30% of adults can correctly identify, from a list of all possible routes, all the ways HIV can and cannot be transmitted
• An increasing proportion of adults incorrectly believe HIV can be transmitted by impossible routes such as kissing and spitting
• 44% of adults are keen to learn more about the reality of living with HIV in the UK today and this rises to 52% amongst 16-24 year olds
• More than two thirds of British adults (68%) agree more needs to be done to tackle prejudice against people living with HIV in the UK