Man Who Says He Beat HIV Disappears

A British man who came forward earlier this week claiming to be the first in the world whose immune system has beaten the HIV virus has disappeared amid growing pressure to submit to further medical tests to confirm his diagnosis.

A large number of health experts, AIDS campaigners and gay rights activists have urged Andrew Stimpson to come forward following claims that he has been able to rid his body of the virus after taking little more than vitamins.

Andrew Stimpson, 25, twice tested positive at a London clinic in August 2002. A test 14 months later appeared to be negative.

But the health trust involved, Chelsea and Westminster, said Stimpson declined to undergo further tests, despite being asked to do so immediately after last year's negative test result.

A spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that he has a positive and a negative test. I can't confirm that he's shaken it off, that he's been cured. We urge him, for the sake of himself and the HIV community, to come in and get tested."

Though Stimpson insists he will "do anything I can", associates said he had gone away to rest and escape the media spotlight.

Campaigners are annoyed that Stimpson signed contracts with the News of the World and the Mail on Sunday, both of which published his claims at the weekend. The campaigners also sounded a note of caution, noting that disclosures in his case arose not from medical research or peer review but from legal correspondence relating to an action Stimpson was pursuing against the health trust.

Experts warned that the complexities of HIV made any one of a number of scenarios possible in the case.