OTTAWA, Dec 1 (AFP) - Canada saw a 12 percent rise in the number of AIDS/HIV sufferers in 2002 while a large number do not know they have the disease, the health authorities said Monday.

The Health Canada agency said there were 56,000 recorded HIV carriers in the country at the end of last year.

"The epidemic in Canada is serious and continues to grow in scope and complexity despite the availability of information, services and resources that are lacking in many other parts of the world," the government health department warned.

Health Minister Anne McLellan estimated there were about 17,000 people who do not know they are carrying the virus.

Gays, drug users, prison inmates, native Canadians and people from countries with a large rate of infection are the most at risk, the minister added.

The Health Canada report released for World AIDS Day said homosexuals accounted for 40 percent of new infections, slightly higher than for other years.

The report said it was "troubling" that two thirds of children aged 12 and half of those aged 14 did not know that there was no cure for AIDS. Even 20 percent of adults said they believed someone could recover if treated early enough.

"Canadians, particularly youth, have lost their sense of urgency about HIV/AIDS," said the report.

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