In a House of Commons debate last week David Borrow, MP for South Ribble, and Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans called on the Government to do more to prevent the spread of the conditions.

Mr Borrow asked Minister of State for Public Health, Caroline Flint, whether she agreed "work needs to be more targeted at younger gay men".

He added: "It is important to emphasise that contracting HIV does not mean simply taking a pill a day, when everything is okay.

"Drug treatment for HIV is very unpleasant and is not 100% effective, so we need to get that message through to younger gay men."

Mr Evans added: "The Minister will know that the incidence of HIV/Aids has quadrupled since 2000 and part of the problem is the Government's complacency about it.

"They announced a substantial advertising campaign last year, but it was many months late and in the end it was pegged back to a £4m campaign.

"Would it not be far better if the Government now embarked on a substantial advertising campaign."

Miss Flint said: "There has been a large drop in diagnoses of Aids and a 70% drop in Aids deaths, but it would be ridiculous to suggest anything other than that HIV is something that has to be dealt with every day of a person's life in respect of the mix of drugs and treatments necessary.

"My Hon Friend (Mr Borrow) makes an interesting point about the younger age group, many of whom are too young to remember the 1980s campaign and may have a false sense of safety about their future health."