HIV positive tests down

THERE has been a drop in the number of people testing positive for HIV in the past two years, new figures show.

Latest figures published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) show that 318 HIV infections were newly diagnosed last year — a 10.7% decrease on 2004 when 356 were diagnosed.

HPSC statistics recorded over the past 15 years show that the number of new HIV cases peaked in 2003 when 399 were diagnosed.