In June 2004 484 people have been registered at the Ministry of Health as HIV
positive, and 122 have been declared as having AIDS (Population seven million
people). Since the beginning of 2004 13 new cases of HIV have been registered.
The data analyses show that 68 percent of the HIV-positive are male and 32 percent
female.
The major transmission way remains the sexual: 91 percent; about eight percent
by blood transfusion and about one percent by vertical way (mother-child). About
70 percent of the HIV positive persons are between 20 and 39 years. The youngest
HIV positive is 21 years male, the oldest is 56 years. The youngest HIV positive
female is 24 years, the oldest 55 years.
The data shows that persons from different social groups are being infected. Meanwhile other sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis and hepatitis B are at their height. The fact that the sexually transmitted infections concern more and more young people is disturbing: 7,3 percent of the HIV positive (?????) in Bulgaria are at age 15-17 years and 70 percent of the hepatitis B infected are at age 15-24 years.
The ratio of the HIV-positive people according to the whole population is 0.006 percent. As obvious, the AIDS is not considered as a problem in Bulgaria. The infection is invisible for the society and they feel protected from this invisible menace. All prerequisites for turning the infection into epidemics are present in Bulgaria. Prevention is needed. Reasons for the above mentioned fact and the expected turn of the infection are the lack of information for sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS; the lack of education in this respect; the lack of propagation and effective prevention.
Accommodation
AIDS
previous