Over 5,000 AIDS cases in Vietnam

Over 5,000 AIDS cases in Vietnam

HANOI (AFP): More than 5,000 cases of HIV-infected people are now registered in Vietnam, a report said yesterday.

At least 5,005 people have tested positive for the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus, of which 701 have full blown AIDS and 412 have died, the Nhan Dan newspaper reported.

Two thirds of the cases were drug addicts, the newspaper said citing figures from the National Committee for the Prevention of AIDS.

The real number of HIV-infected people is probably much higher due to the insufficiency of detection equipment. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates the figure could reach 400,000 by the turn of the century.