Rising Number Of Finns Contract Aids In Thailand

Rising number of Finns contract AIDS in Thailand

HELSINKI: -- Finland is set to see a two-fold increase in AIDS cases in 2006, due in part to men contracting the disease while on holiday in Thailand, the Finnish government said.

More than 100 new HIV cases are expected before the end of the year, compared with 53 in 2001, out of a population of 5.2 million, according to a report published by the Finnish ministry of health.

"In a growing number of cases, people contract the disease abroad, particularly in Thailand," a favorite holiday destination of Finnish holidaymakers, health ministry advisor Merja Saarinen told AFP.

"What is especially worrying is the number of new cases transmitted sexually," Saarinen said.

Around three out of four of the carriers are male, a figure that has remained unchanged since the beginning of the 1980s, while the average age of infected men has risen from 33 to 40 since 2001.

A drop in the number of cases contracted through sexual contact in those below 25 was an "encouraging" trend, according to Saarinen.

Since AIDS emerged in the 1980s, 2,007 Finns have contracted the disease.

--AFP 2006-09-04