One person gets infected with HIV in Transnistria every day

Ninety-one cases of HIV were reported in the Transnistrian region in the first quarter of this year. This is by a case a day on average. The infection rate in 2007 rose by 20% on 2006, when there were registered 240 new cases, Info-Prim Neo’s correspondent in Transnistria reports, quoting the local AIDS Center. A number of 1,668 HIV-infected people are under supervision in Transnistria. Specialists consider yet that three to five cases per every reported case remain unreported. Therefore, the real number of people infected with HIV could be about 7,000. Earlier, the largest part of the HIV-infected people or people that developed AIDS formed part of socially vulnerable groups, and, mostly, from the group of drug users. Today, four in five people get infected through sexual intercourse. Specialists say the number of infected students is increasing. The treatment at the center is free of charge. The cost of a treatment for a person amounts to 10,000 USD a year. About 15 people perform tests here every day. The center also has a helpline and a reciprocal aid group.