HIV cases 'on the rise' in Minnesota

The number of new HIV and Aids cases in Minnesota has risen to the highest levels seen since 1995, the state health department have revealed.

Figures from the HIV/Aids Surveillance Report found that there were 325 new cases of infection in 2007, compared to 318 new cases in 2006.

Health officials have found that the largest increase of new cases over the past six years have been amongst males aged between 13 and 24, where the number of cases have doubled.

Peter Carr, director of STD and HIV sections of the Minnesota health department, said: "Our annual number of reported cases declined in the late 1990s until 2001 when we began to see a slight but steady increase in the yearly number of cases.

"These higher rates of infection may indicate that we are not reaching all communities equally with our prevention messages and programmes."

Infection rates were found to be higher among the coloured communities, which health official note may be due to social stigma and lack of access to health resources.

The Orlando Sentinel has reported new initiative in Florida between the department of health and black religious leaders to establish an HIV/Aids testing site in at least one church in every county, to combat the high infection rate among black residents in the state.

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