Aids deaths continue to decline

120 new Aids cases were reported in the first half of the year, but combination therapies have lowered Aids deaths Keystone

During the first six months of this year, 120 people in Switzerland were diagnosed with Aids. However, the number of deaths resulting from the illness is continuing to diminish.

The Federal Health Office said on Monday that in the first six months of the year, 89 women and 31 men were diagnosed with Aids.

But statistics show that since 1995, the number of people dying of Aids has been falling. The reason for the drop is largely because of the combination therapies used to treat people who are HIV-positive, but who have not yet contracted full-blown Aids.

Official statistics also show that within the same six-month period, the number of people testing positive for HIV rose by 243. The total number of HIV-positive cases registered in Switzerland since 1985 now stands at 25,667.

Between 1983 and June 2000, nearly 6,900 people in the country were registered as having Aids, with more than 4,900 of the cases having resulted in death.

swissinfo and agencies