HANOI, Nov 28 (AFP) - There were 27,290 HIV cases in Vietnam and 2,371 people have died of AIDS, the latest official figures published Tuesday showed.

The National Committee for AIDS Prevention said 4,461 people with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) had been confirmed to have developed full-blown AIDS.

The syndrome has grown dramatically over the last few months in Vietnam, which lacks the resources to take on the scourge in real earnest.

Nearly 10,000 new cases were found this year, against 5,827 last year, a committee official told AFP, admitting that measures to combat the disease were limited to drug addicts and prostitutes at present.

The committee predicted that Vietnam would see nearly 200,000 new HIV cases in the coming five years.

However, the United Nations Development Programme says up to 35,000 people could be affected over this period.

Local health officials warn that AIDS could spread rapidly among the tens of thousands of street children and pregnant women, who are to be the target of an information campaign when the World AIDS Day is marked on December 1.

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