World AIDS Day: Virus Claimed 188 People in Croatia

World AIDS Day, observed on 1 December every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection…

Up until today more than 36 million people in the world have lost their lives to the virus. In Croatia 188 people up until now have died from the virus, whilst there are currently 1,200 people infected with HIV, putting Croatia in the ‘low incidence’ category.

“In Croatia there are between 70-80 new cases registered every year. This year we discovered 21 new HIV infected people,” said Tomislav Beganović from the Croatian Association for HIV and Viral Hepatitis, adding that there has been a drop in the number of people contracting AIDS (the last stage of the disease), and the number of deaths, suggesting that medical care and the availability of adequate therapy was effective.

Beganović says that the aim of the association is to attract as many people as they can to conduct free testing, as identifying the virus in its early stages means that treating the virus can be more effective and increases the chances of achieving better results.