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Another 257 Singaporeans infected with HIV

26 November 2004

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26 Nov 2004

Current HIV/ADIS situation in Singapore

1 The progressive rise in new HIV/AIDS cases in Singapore needs a concerted community effort to stop HIV infection from spreading from narrow-risk groups into the mainstream. In the first 10 months of 2004, another 257 Singaporeans were found to be HIV infected, compared with 201 cases for the same period in 2003. The total number of reported cases in 2003 was 242. About 92% of the new cases detected in the first 10 months of this year were males and 8% were females.

2 Sexual transmission remains the main mode of HIV transmission among Singaporeans. Of the257new cases,247cases acquired the infection through the sexual route with 85% of these cases acquiring the infection through casual sex or sex with prostitutes. Heterosexuals (66%) still make up most of the new infections, followed by homosexuals (22%) and bisexuals (8%). HIV infections in MSM (men who have sex with men) have also soared in the last three years; with 77 cases diagnosed up to October this year compared with 54 and 42 for the whole of 2003 and 2002 respectively. A key factor causing the surge is the large number of sexual partners that MSM have. The remaining4% of cases were due to intravenous drug use (6cases) and perinatal transmission (4cases, of which two were adopted from overseas).

3 About 56% of the new cases were 30 to 49 years of age. Sixty per cent were single, 26% married,8% divorced and6% widowed.

Total number of HIV infected Singapore

4 This brings the total number of HIV infected Singaporeans including22children to 2332as ofOct2004(Table 1). Of these,894are asymptomatic carriers,564have full-blown AIDS and874have died.

5 Heterosexual transmission has been the most common mode of HIV transmission among Singaporeans since 1991 (Table 2). Most of these cases contracted the infection through casual sex and sex with prostitutes inand overseas.

6 The majority of the HIV infected Singaporeans were males with2053cases;279were females (Table 3) giving a sex ratio of seven males to one female. Among the males, 60% were single at the point of diagnosis. For the females, however, the majority (62%) were married.

7 About 84% are Chinese, 8% Malays, 5% Indians and 3% Others (Table 4). About19% of the HIV infected Singaporeans were working in the sales and service sector and another 17% were production craftsman and plant/machine assemblers (Table 6). (Table 5: HIV infected Singaporeans by age and sex)


MOH welcomes partners in HIV/AIDS education efforts

8 The Ministry implements the AIDS Education Programme through the Health Promotion Board (HPB) to educate Singaporeans on how HIV infection is transmitted and its consequences. The Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) plays an important role in the education of patients with HIV infection or AIDS and their family members. However, the fight against AIDS requires active community involvement.

9 The Ministry has met up with members of the community to see how we could all work together to tackle the HIV/AIDS situation in Singapore. We hope that with targeted messaging and education programmes by various groups, such as AFA, AWARE, Singapore Planned Parenthood Association, we can collectively stem the spread of HIV/AIDS transmission in Singapore over time.

MINISTRY'S ADVICE

10 The Ministry would like to emphasise that the only way to avoid AIDS is to remain faithful to one's spouse or partner. Do not be promiscuous, avoid casual sex and sex with prostitutes. Persons who engage in casual sex and sex with prostitutes are advised to use condoms to reduce risk of catching HIV. A HIV infected person looks and feels normal during the early stage of the infection. It is therefore not possible to tell if a person is infected or not by looking at his/her appearance.

11 If a person is HIV positive, the Ministry would like to emphasize that it is an offence to have sex without informing the partner of the HIV status.

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

26 Nov 2004