Nine HIV deaths here during first eight months

Nadira Gunatilleke

The National HIV/AIDS Control Programme detected 81 new HIV/AIDS cases in Sri Lanka during the first half of this year.

Nine patients died from AIDS during the past eight months, a Health Ministry spokesman said. According to the spokesman, Sri Lanka's current HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 0.04 percent.

Since 1987, a total of 1,544 HIV/AIDS cases were detected from persons screened for the disease and 262 died from AIDS since 1987. The number of HIV/AIDS positive foreigners who arrived in Sri Lanka is 82, he said. The National HIV/AIDS Control Programme carried out 387,251 blood tests in 2011 and distributed 165,077 condoms free of charge. It is believed there are about 3,000 HIV positive adults and 35 children in the country, the spokesman said.