SOME 539 HIV CASES REGISTERED SINCE 1988

ARMENPRESS
Feb 13, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS: Some 64, 243 Armenian citizens were
examined last year for the purpose of finding out whether they had
HIV. Some 50,000 of them were females.

The National Statistical Service said almost 31,000 were residents
of Yerevan, 22,000 were residents of other towns and almost 11,000
were from rural communities. Some 29,000 were aged 20-30 years old,
270 were below 15 years old and over 2000 were over 60 years old.

According to the National AIDS Prevention Center, a total of 530 HIV
cases were reported in the country since 1998 to 2007, but independent
experts say the figure is far higher. One hundred people were diagnosed
with HIV in 2007 alone.

The growth rate of HIV infection makes the HIV/AIDS epidemic a real
danger for the country with a population of 3.2 million. A number
of factors such as labor migration to Russia and other former Soviet
republics and massive increase in individual high-risk behaviors are
contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS.