Record number of HIV infections in the Czech Republic in 2009?

2010-01-08

By the end of November 2009, 136 new cases of HIV infection were reported in the Czech Republic, according to the CTK news agency. Miroslav Hlavaty of the Czech AIDS association claims that in 2008 there were 142 new cases of HIV infection and that the number of new HIV cases for 2009 as a whole might be even higher. The rate at which new cases appear has been accelerating in recent years, and since 2007 their number has exceeded 100 new cases per year. Since 1986, the Czech authorities have recorded 1,325 cases of HIV infection, and 288 patients have developed AIDS. Of these, 153 people have died.
The increase in the number of HIV afflicted patients might be a result of cuts in the Czech budget, which have affected the HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in particular, according to Beatriz Cebolla, the director of the Health Consumer Powerhouse, which prepared the 2009 Euro HIV Index. These have led to shortages of personnel and the closure of some volunteer counselling and testing points in the country.