30 cases of HIV in 2012

The health minister Godfrey Farrugia today said that 30 HIV cases were reported last year, an increase of six over the previous year, while the number of persons with AIDS remained the same at five.

The minister also explained that 22 of the persons reported to be suffering with HIV or AIDS were foreigners or immigrants, while 13 Maltese persons suffered one of the diseases.

In the previous year, 24 cases of HIV were reported while AIDS cases stood at five. 2012 registered the highest number of cases since 2008, when 36 cases of HIV/AIDS were reported.

Farrugia explained that the health ministry was strengthening both preventive and treatment measures and highlighted the expensive treatment offered by the state.

Between 2004 and 2011, Malta reported a cumulative total of 157 HIV cases, 96 AIDS cases, and 60 deaths among AIDS cases to the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

In 2011, Malta reported one death among AIDS cases. With the rate of newly diagnosed HIV infections in 2011 standing  at 5.0 per 100 000 population.

Of the newly reported infections with information about transmission mode in 2011 (88%), 76.5% were infected through heterosexual contact and 23.5% through sex between men.

The majority (81%) of newly diagnosed cases were male. As of 2011, no mother-to-child transmission cases have been reported in Malta.