February 11, 2008

HIV Infections in Finland Remain at Record High

For the past two years, Finland’s HIV infection rate has remained at a record high for the Scandinavian country, the international edition of Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reports (hs.fi, 2/11). More than 190 new infections were recorded for both 2006 and 2007.

According to the article, Finnish officials have curbed new infections among intravenous-drug users through distribution of clean needles and education programs. However, experts attribute the majority of new infections to both heterosexual and homosexual sex. Last year, only eight HIV infections in Finland were linked to intravenous-drug use.

Researcher Kirsi Liitsola of the National Public Health Institute in Finland attributes the two-year record high for new infections to late-stage testing. According to Liitsola, about 20 percent of HIV-positive people in Finland were diagnosed after carrying the virus for an extended period of time and potentially spreading it to others.

NEW! Scroll down to comment on this story.

Name:	(2-50 characters)
Email:	(will not show)
City:	(optional)

Comment (500 characters left):

(Note: The POZ team review all comments before they are posted. Please do not include either ":" or "@" in your comment.)

| Posting Rules

Previous Comments: