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New HIV infections in Japan hit record high in '04
January 28, 2005
Tokyo - The number of people newly infected with the HIV virus in Japan totaled
a record 748 in 2004, while the number of HIV patients who developed AIDS
totaled 366 in the year, also a record high, a health ministry panel said in a
preliminary report released Wednesday, Kyodo news service reported.
The number of people infected with the virus and AIDS patients combined came to
1,114 in 2004, topping the 1,000 level for the first time since 1984 when the
ministry started taking the data, said the panel of the Health, Labor and
Welfare Ministry.
The number of those infected with the HIV virus was up 108 from 2003, while the
number of AIDS patients increased by 30 from the previous year, Kyodo reported.
The panel said the situation concerning the disease is worsening as the
cumulative number of those infected with the virus and the AIDS patients stood
at 9,784 in 2004.
The number of people who visited hospitals, health centers or other facilities
for HIV checkups stood at about 80,000, up from 76,000 in 2003, the panel
added, Kyodo reported. The figure is the largest in the past 10 years, it said.
According to the panel, 90% of the HIV-infected people and the AIDS patients
are male, adding that 65% of the infections were through sexual contact between
males.
Meanwhile, the ministry has decided to revise for the first time its 1999
guidelines on AIDS prevention to boost efforts to prevent the disease from
spreading further, Kyodo reported.
The ministry intends to set up a panel comprising experts in the field and
launch the review by the March 31 end of fiscal 2004.
The panel will examine recent trends, including the rise in infections among
males, young couples and in urban areas, in order to devise effective measures
in the revised guidelines, according to Kyodo.
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