VILNIUS, Nov 21 (AFP) - Due to early prevention programs Lithuania has been able to keep its rate of HIV infections the lowest in central Europe at 6.8 per 100,000 population, Lithuania's AIDS center said Tuesday.

The numbers are considerably lower compared with neighbouring Poland, where there are 15.2 HIV positive cases per 100,000 population, Estonia 26.1, Latvia 33.08, and Russia's Kaliningrad region where 350 out of 100,000 people have the infection.

"Based on the data we have from most of central and eastern Europe, we can even say that (Lithuania's) number of HIV positive cases per 100,000 population is the lowest in all the region," said Giedrius Likatavicius, a doctor at the AIDS center.

HIV is the virus that leads to full-blown AIDS.

The fairly constant rate of spread of HIV and the low overall infection rate is a result of an early AIDS prevention program, which recently integrated with anti-drug abuse campaigns in schools and among youngsters, according to the center's director, Saulius Caplinskas.

"When 10 years ago we started to celebrate so-called condom days, this was like shock therapy, but now we see the results," said Caplinskas.

The fact that about 90 percent of Lithuanians consider themselves Roman Catholics and are socially conservative has also played a role, he added.

To date 257 HIV infections have been registered in Lithuania, with 56 new cases reported this year. This compares to 66 new cases registered in 1999 and 52 in 1998.

More than half (146) of all HIV positive cases in Lithuania are intravenous drug users. 36 have developed AIDS and 28 have died.

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