Dr. Avnish Jolly, 19th February, 2009 :According to Japan’s Health Ministry report the number of people in Japan newly infected with the HIV virus and those contracting AIDS reached an all-time high of 1,545. Dr. Aikichi Iwamoto said that an increasing number of people are getting infected as a result of male-to-male sexual contact and the age range is widening.
Of the 1,113 people diagnosed as newly positive with the human immunodeficiency virus in 2008 and 432 diagnosed with AIDS, 1,442 were male, the ministry’s AIDS Trend Committee report said. Report also disclosed that PLHIVS those in their 30s accounted for 559 people, or 36 percent, while 377 were in their 20s and people in their 50s accounted for 283 patients, an increase of 50 people from the previous year. The report said 964 people, or 62 percent, were infected through same-sex contact last year, while 365 became infected through heterosexual contact and 10 through sharing drug needles.