Balearics has highest number of Aids cases per capita in Spain

The Balearics still has the highest number of Aids cases per capita in Spain, despite years of continuous efforts by the social and health authorities to reduce the phenomenon. According to the National Aids Plan, in the Balearics there are 100.8 cases per one thousand inhabitants. At the end of last year, there were 1'712 documented cases in the Balearics, 1'345 male sufferers and 367 female Aids patients. The latest report also states that while there are more male cases, the largest number of cases are registered in the 30 to 34 age group. Just under 1'000 cases correspond to children aged under 12 throughout Spain. Since 1981, 59.446 Aids cases have been reported in Spain and 55 per cent had died by the end of last year and the National Aids Plan estimates that there are 120'000 people in Spain with the HIV virus. Spain still has one of the highest number of Aids patients in Europe per capita and the National Plan is expected, once the full impact of the report has been digested, to recommend that fresh and more effective steps to slow the spread of the illness are introduced. One of the key areas of concern is the transmission of the virus by drug users and that is where government campaigns have been focused of late. In Majorca, for example, all the authorities have been involved in the fight against Aids for a number of years and non-governmental organisations, such as Medicos del Mundo, have been continuously working with “high risk” groups.