NINE PEOPLE DIAGNOSED WITH AIDS IN CROATIA IN 1997

( Editorial: --> 4423 ) ZAGREB, Nov 28 (Hina) - The situation in Croatia with regard to the number of HIV positive people is still favourable. This gives us a chance to stop the AIDS epidemic from spreading with further preventive measures, Dr. Josip Begovac, a member of the Health Ministry's AIDS Commission, told a news conference in Zagreb on Friday ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1. Since 1986, when the first AIDS case was registered in Croatia, 117 people had contracted the disease, of whom 75 had died. Nine people were diagnosed with AIDS in 1997 and 16 the year before, according to a report by the Public Health Institute. Of all AIDS patients registered since 1986, 98 were men and 19 women. Of these 56 were homosexuals and bisexuals, 29 highly promiscuous heterosexuals, 11 had HIV positive partners, 10 were intravenous drug addicts and seven hemophiliacs. The report said that a case of an AIDS-infected child had also been registered, while in three cases the cause of infection was unknown. It stressed that no case of transmitting the HIV virus through blood transfusion had been recorded. (hina) vm jn 282115 MET nov 97