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Italy adds over 6 new HIV infections every 100,000 residents in 2014

Xinhua, December 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

More than six residents every 100,000 in Italy were diagnosed with HIV infection last year, the national department of health (ISS) said in a statement during the World AIDS Day commemoration on Tuesday.

There were 3,695 new infections in the country in 2014, with more than 84 percent of those caused by sex contact without condom use, often between male homosexuals, according to the statement.

The most hit group was between the ages of 25 and 29, with an average age of 39 for men and 36 for women, the statement said. More than 27 percent of new HIV-positive people were foreigners.

"Over the past 10 years there has been a stabilization in the number of new infections. Yet, this number is not diminishing and this is the core of the issue," Barbara Suligoi, a medical doctor and director of the national AIDS unit at ISS, explained to Xinhua.

Between 120,000 and 130,000 people are presently estimated to be HIV-positive in Italy, but as many as an estimated 15 percent of them are not aware of being infected, Suligoi said.

"We cannot say there is an AIDS alarm in Italy, but we can say there is strong concern in terms of people who are not aware of the risk," the expert highlighted.

The high number of sex workers and the recent spread of brothels that front as massage parlors in the major cities of Italy significantly contribute to the risk, she added.

Misinformation is the main cause behind the new infections, Suligoi told Xinhua. In the eighties and nineties, when HIV was especially contracted by drug addicts, a lot of preventive measures were put in place so that the trend started to decrease in Italy.

"Today that the risk is especially posed by unprotected sex, much more advert should be done to encourage the general population to habitually use condom in case of casual relations," Suligoi said, calling on her country to adopt all most effective campaigns to provide complete and correct information.

On World AIDS Day, a number of disease prevention and health information campaigns were launched throughout Italy, including artistic shows, free distribution of condoms and ultra-rapid HIV-screening tests. Endit