One quarter of people were infected with the virus overseas

Figures published on Wednesday show the number of cases jumped by 24% last year.

In 2002, 2,429 people in the region were treated - double the 1995 figure, when regional monitoring began.

Health experts warn complacency about safer sex and better palliative treatments means HIV/Aids is in danger of becoming a "forgotten disease".

More than half of the existing or new cases are in Greater Manchester.

The most marked rise in infections was in Merseyside, where there was a 33% increase.

The message that everyone should be taking on board today is that protected, safer sex is the only option Professor John Ashton, regional director of public health Click here to view a county-by-county break down of the statistics

The only area where there was no change was Cumbria where 63 people sought treatment in 2001 and 2002.

But the number of people who died last year as a result of the HIV virus has fallen from 10% in 1995 to 1.5%.

National picture

Across the region, 60% of those with HIV/Aids are gay men.

But for the first time in the region, straight people accounted for the majority of new cases, with transmission often linked to travel abroad.

One quarter of people with HIV in the North West were infected overseas, with 51% in Africa and 17% in Europe.

The Aids problem is also worse proportionally among ethnic minorities, with 15% of those infected from non-white backgrounds.

Ethnic minority communities make up just 3% of the region's population.

Safer sex

Professor John Ashton, regional director of public health, said: "Heterosexuals formed the largest number of new cases and account for a quarter of all cases in 2002, reflecting the trend for the UK as a whole.

"The message that everyone should be taking on board today is that protected, safer sex is the only option."

The report was compiled jointly by the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University and the Health Protection Agency North West.

Regional epidemiologist Dr Martyn Regan said: "HIV/Aids has been in danger of becoming the forgotten disease, but this report reminds us the number of cases in the North West is increasing."