PLAID Cymru leader Leanne Wood has signed an open letter challenging claims made by Nigel Farage about HIV positive immigrants.

Leanne Wood, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett dispute the figures the UKIP leader used during the televised leaders’ debate earlier this month.

And they have called on Nigel Farage "to apologise for his factually inaccurate, and stigmatising, comments".

During the debate Leanne Wood earned praise for immediately tackling Nigel Farage over his comments, declaring that he "should be ashamed of yourself".

The letter was organised by ACT UP London, an HIV activist group to rebut Nigel Farage’s claims that HIV positive immigrants come to Britain for free treatment, at huge expense to the NHS.

As well as the three leaders, other prominent politicians have signed the letter along with several religious leaders, doctors, and representatives from HIV charities, HIV clinics, Royal Colleges and NHS trusts.

The Open Letter reads: "We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned at the recent attempts made by Nigel Farage to spread misinformation about HIV for political ends. We call for the rights of people living with HIV to be respected and upheld, and for HIV treatment to be left out of the political fray. We call for Mr Farage to apologise for his factually inaccurate, and stigmatising, comments.

During the leaders’ TV debate on 2nd April, Mr Farage claimed: "Here’s a fact…there are 7,000 diagnoses in this country every year for people that are HIV positive… 60% of them are not British nationals." He further stated treatment costs up to £25,000 per year per patient.

Mr Farage is entitled to his own opinions, but he is not entitled to his own facts. Each claim is false. Public Health England’s most recent figures show there were 6,000 people newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK in 2013, a decrease on the 6,250 diagnoses in 2012. The ‘7,000’ figure was last true in 2008, since then the number has been steadily declining.

The same figures show that 45% of people diagnosed with HIV in 2013 were born outside the UK, but the data does not tell us about the nationality of people diagnosed. It records only country of birth – being born outside the UK does not mean you are not a British national. The average cost of treatment per patient per year is approximately £6,000."