New HIV cases on the rise in Singapore

Balaji Sadasivan, Singapore's senior minister of state for health, told Singapore's parliament Wednesday that the nation recorded 311 new HIV cases in 2004--a jump of almost 30% from 2003. In a move to identify the estimated 4,000 to 8,000 undiagnosed HIV cases, the government is working to make HIV antibody testing easier by supplying over-the-counter test kits, Channel News Asia quotes Balaji as saying. In addition to gay men, infections are increasing among "heterosexual men who have casual sex. In many cases, this puts the wife at risk. If we do not act to protect women, many women will get infected and we too will have a situation where women form the majority of AIDS patients," Balaji said. (AP)