The government must do more to inform the public about the continued risks of Aids and HIV, the former health minister who was responsible for the initial public awareness campaign has said.

In a debate in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, Sir Norman Fowler said that the UK's Aids epidemic was on the rise, and warned the government that it must embark upon a new campaign to highlight the risks of the disease.

Sir Norman told MPs that the number of Aids infections was escalating whilst awareness about issues such as safe sex and drug use was falling. New combination drug treatments, which holds the development of Aids at bay, have also led to complacency.

"There's a real danger in the UK that we have become complacent. I do not think the figures justify complacency. Public education is the only vaccine we have at our disposal," Sir Norman said.

Some 30,000 people in the UK are now living with HIV and Aids, with the number of new recorded infections at its highest rate since the disease was first identified in the early 1980s. The new drug regimes, which are not a cure but which prolong life, cost around £10,000 per year for each patient.

Sir Norman was health secretary between 1981 and 1987 and launched the "iceberg" advertisements which stressed the message "Aids: don't die of ignorance".