HIV diagnoses have been rising since 2000, after showing a slow decline through the 1990s. Antiretroviral drugs can now stave off development of full-blown Aids for years.. Monday is not an average night in Cecil Sharp House. Then again, the London Gay Men’s Chorus are not an average choir.

Once a week, this old north London music hall, accustomed to the anodyne pleasures of post-school woodwind practice, bursts into life. In one corner, a small choir runs through some demanding Poulenc; downstairs, the costume man is putting some finishing touches to the “three queens” nativity outfits; and centre stage, a choreographer puts a willing but not always step-perfect dance troupe through their paces

Monday is not an average night in Cecil Sharp House. Gay men are 90 times more likely to be HIV positive than other people. He says he now lives a quiet life, away from London’s glamorous gay scene. In what now seems like an eerily prescient interview in 1997, a year before he was diagnosed, Bell spoke of how he might react to discovering he was HIV positive. He told Etcetera magazine: “If I went to a doctor and tested positive, I’d feel so distraught by it. Then I’d have to keep calling up and getting my T-cell count.”I think that’s a lot of bullshit.

I don’t think most places offer proper counselling, which is very troubling.”Oliver Wright, of the Terence Higgins Trust, said: “We applaud Andy Bell for taking a stand and being open about his HIV-positive status.”Sadly, there is still a great deal of ignorance and stigma surrounding HIV and Aids and we hope that his brave move will help to encourage other people to seek help and support.”He added: “There are still a lot of misconceptions that HIV is a death sentence, and having someone like Andy stand up and say he is positive, but healthy, is great.”LIVING WITH HIV There are 50,000 people living with HIV in Britain, half of them gay men. Since then, I have been taking combination therapy and I am feeling fine ­ in fact I have never felt better.”Being HIV [positive] does not mean that you have Aids. It will deal with his diagnosis and how he deals with taking the drugs aimed at preventing the virus from developing into Aids.Bell came out when he was 19 after moving from his home town of Peterborough to London with his girlfriend, who took him to his first gay club. “I came out of my first gay club totally enamoured and she was sitting in the car crying her eyes out,” he recalled. Erasure topped the album charts in the late 1980s with a string of synth-pop records featuring Bell’s distinctive high voice. They had 15 top ten singles including “A Little Respect” and “Sometimes”, and five albums reached No 1.At a time when other camp pop stars such as Boy George were also in the ascendant, Bell admits there was a point when he went to London gay clubs such as Heaven “week in, week out” as well as partying in Ibiza.Four years ago, he and Mr Hickey moved to a farmhouse in Majorca, where they are now based. The 40-year-old is one of only a few British celebrities to admit being HIV positive.Freddie Mercury, the lead singer with Queen, died in 1991, days after he confirmed he was suffering from Aids.

Holly Johnson, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s front-man, announced he had Aids in 1993, and now lives “a normal life” in north London.Aids charities paid tribute to Bell’s bravery in publicly announcing that he has been diagnosed as having the virus.In a message on Erasure’s website, Bell said he was responding to discussions on fan forums about his HIV status, as well as gossip columns reporting he had undergone a double hip replacement. The statement said: “I found out I was HIV positive in June 1998 when I had a bout of pneumonia in Majorca. Although the Saints still have a chance of reaching the European Cup quarter-finals, they are rooted to the bottom of the Premiership.But Emms said: “It’s a big club in the Zurich Premiership, so this is a fantastic opportunity for me. Andy Bell, the singer with the pop group Erasure, has announced he is HIV positive. [But] this position would not take me far away from my family. It’s a hell of a good opportunity and in the area that I live and love It combines family with rugby. I think the director of rugby position is a very exciting development from a WP point of view.”The Clermont Auvergne prop David Attoub will appear before an European Rugby Cup disciplinary committee in London tomorrow night to answer a citing complaint lodged by Borders following the European Challenge Cup second round, first leg match on 5 December..

Mallett, who won back-to-back French titles with Stade Fran?s before returning to South Africa this year, took the Springboks to 17 successive Test victories and the 1998 Tri-Nations title before he was summarily dismissed by S A Rugby.Mallett said: “When I came back to South Africa I was keen to stay out of rugby for a year or two having been involved for nine years without a break. Troubled Northampton yesterday signed two players as emergency cover to help them out of an injury crisis.
Bottom-of-the-table Saints, who are still investigating a “fracas” which took place in a Toulouse bar in the early hours of Sunday morning following their European Cup defeat against the French club, have been ravaged by injuries: they have seven forwards out of action. He was suspended for a blind-side punch on Wests Tigers’ Mark O’Neill, but London have rescued his career with a one-year contract.Nathan Blacklock has arrived two weeks early for pre-season training at Hull, hoping to play in the pre-season friendly against Hull KR on 9 January.The new Blackpool Panthers, who replace Chorley in National League 2, have agreed a two-year lease to play at Bloomfield Road, home of Blackpool FC.The Rugby League has taken further steps to avoid future betting scandals by entering into an agreement with the online betting company, Betfair, who will advise them about any abnormal patterns of betting.. The London Broncos have signed Melbourne’s controversial forward, Danny Williams, even though they will not be able to play him until April. Kanga Akale got the better of Hamed Namouchi down the right and fed the ball to Benjamin Mwaruwari, whose ball into the penalty area should have been cut out by Zurab Khizanishvili. But the Georgian failed to do so and Kalou took the ball down.