New AIDS diagnoses at lowest level in five years

New diagnoses of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, are at their lowest level in five years, according to figures for 2016 presented Monday by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (KEELPNO), which recorded 453 new cases from the start of the year until October.

In 2015 new cases stood at 691, down from 761 in 2014 and well below the worst years on record, 2011 and 2012, when the number of people diagnosed as HIV positive stood at 958 and 1,147 respectively.

KEELPNO said the new cases bring the total number of HIV positive patients recorded in Greece since the 1990s to 15,795, of whom 3,923 have presented symptoms of AIDS. The total number of AIDS-related deaths came to 2,662 in October.

The data was presented at an event at Athens University for World AIDS Day, which is on Thursday.