|
|
|
In the first 6 months of 2004,
another 138 Singaporeans were detected to be HIV infected.
|
|
About 91% of the new cases
detected in the first 6 months of this year were males and 9% were females.
|
|
Sexual transmission remains the
main mode of HIV transmission among Singaporeans.
|
|
Of the 138 cases reported in the
first 6 months of this year, 132 cases acquired the infection through the
sexual route with heterosexual transmission accounting for 65% of infections,
homosexual transmission 23% and bisexual transmission 8%. The remaining 4% was
due to intravenous drug use (3 cases) and perinatal transmission (3 cases).
|
|
Among those who acquired the
infection through the sexual route, about 86% had sexual exposure to
prostitutes (locally and overseas) and/or casual sex partners.
|
|
Those aged between 30 and 49 years
of age accounted for about 57% of all new cases reported in the first 6 months
of this year.
|
|
Those aged between 50 and 59 years
accounted for 13% and 20 to 29 years accounted for about 17% of new cases in
the first 6 months of this year.
|
|
Of the new cases, about 62% were
single while about 25% were married, 7% were divorced and 6% were widowed.
|
|
Total number of HIV-infected
Singapoeans
|
|
This brings the total number of
HIV infected Singaporeans including 21 children to 2213 as of Jun 2004 (Table
1). Of these, 844 are asymptomatic carriers, 535 have full-blown AIDS and 834
have died.
|
|
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 in Singapore and
overseas.
|
|
However, since 2001, an increasing
trend of HIV infection has been observed among homosexual men in Singapore,
from 12 cases reported in 2000 to 40 cases in 2003.
|
|
During the first half of this
year, thirty-one of the 138 new cases reported acquired the infection through
homosexual transmission.
|
|
The majority of the HIV infected
Singaporeans are males with 1942 cases; 271 are 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.
|
|
About 84% are Chinese, 8% Malays,
5% Indians and 3% Others (Table 4). About 20% of the HIV infected Singaporeans
were working in the sales and service sector and another 18% were production
craftsman and plant/machine assemblers (Table 6).
|
|
Tables.....
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|
Source: Ministry
of Health Statistics
|
New cases of HIV infection reported in first half 2004
