HIV: Public Knowledge and Attitudes in 2014

Ahead of World AIDS day on December 1st, National AIDS Trust commissioned Ipsos to conduct a survey to measure awareness of HIV and attitudes towards people living with the condition, among the British public.

The survey, which has tracked public opinion about HIV since 2000, found that although attitudes towards HIV and people living with HIV have improved, there are still some gaps in knowledge and understanding.

• When given a list of options and asked to select which are ways HIV can be passed from person to person, two thirds (65%) of respondents identify all of the three main transmission routes: sex without a condom between a man and a woman, sex without a condom between two men, and by sharing needles or syringes. Just over two in five (45%) identify the three correct routes without naming any incorrect routes, while 7% do not name any correct routes at all. Significant proportions incorrectly believe HIV can be passed on through kissing (15%) or spitting (16%).
• Two thirds (68%) correctly believe the statement, ‘in the UK, if someone becomes infected with HIV they will probably die within 3 years’ to be false. However, one in ten (9%) think this is true while almost a quarter (23%) don’t know.
• Since the survey was last conducted in 2010 there have been some positive shifts in attitudes towards people living with HIV. The majority (79%) of respondents agree that ‘people with HIV deserve the same level of support and respect as people with cancer’; this has increased from 74% in 2010. While almost a quarter (23%) say they ‘don’t have much sympathy for people with HIV if they were infected through unprotected sex’, the proportion saying this has decreased from 30% in 2010.
• Two in three people (67%) say they would feel comfortable working with a colleague who had HIV. However, only one in three (35%) disagree with the statement, ‘my employer should tell me if one of my work colleagues is HIV positive’ (37% agree).

Downloads

• Download the computer tables (PDF)

Technical note

1,992 interviews were conducted amongst adults aged 16+ across Great Britain from 24th October – 2nd November 2014. All respondents were interviewed face-to-face, in-home using Ipsos’s nationally representative omnibus survey. Results are weighted to the known population profile of Great Britain.