News
New HIV Cases Exceeds 1000, Ministry of Health and Labour Report Reveals- 6 March 2008
 (Tokyo) The Ministry of Health and Labour has revealed, on February 12, that 1048 HIV cases have newly reported in 2007, a record high, Mainichi Newspaper and others have reported on February 13. The total amount of HIV cases in Japan is 9392 and is expected to exceed 10000 by the end of this year.
According to the research by the Committee on AIDS Trends in the Ministry of Health and Labour, the number of the cases has increased 2.6 times in the past 10 years. It is the first time that the country’s yearly number of the newly reported HIV cases has gone beyond 1000 since the first report in 1984.
93% of the new HIV cases are male patients, the research shows. It also shows that about 70% were through male-male sexual conducts, some 20% through opposite-sex sexual conducts and 10% unknown.
In the research, people in their 30s account for over 40%. Those in their 20s were some 30%. The number of cases in which those diagnosed as HIV positive in their 40s has been tripled from 61 to 192 in the past 7 years.
According Mainichi Newspaper, the Ministry has said ‘Japan’s HIV infection rate is lower among developed countries, but it is true that HIV is spreading.’ ‘Reported HIV cases have been increasing as more people are taking a HIV testing. It is urgent that we should develop our support, counseling and medical care systems further … in accordance with local needs and situations, Professor Aikichi Iwamoto at the University of Tokyo, a chairperson of the AIDS Trends Committee, a chairperson of the Committee said in a statement.
AIDS patients newly reported in 2007 were 400, which decreased from 406 in 2006. The number of the HIV tests conducted in 2007 was 214,647, which was a record high. (Editors Tom Paine, Azusa Yamashita) |
