Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - October 15, 1996
Close to 50 percent of those tested carry the HIV virus and this is growing, Dr. Hor Bunleng, head of the NAPC, said Tuesday.
The tests were carried out over the past three months in 18 of the country's 22 provinces.
Worst hit were prostitutes, 48 percent of whom tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV.
Close to 5 percent of police and 6 percent of soldiers also tested positive for the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
The highest incidence of the disease was found in Cambodia's second largest city of Battambang, 300 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh near the Thai border, where half the prostitutes tested were found HIV positive.
Rates of HIV infection have increased alarmingly since screening began in 1991, leading some experts to predict Cambodia could be among the countries worst hit by the disease in Asia.
Bunleng said based on the tests there are likely 100,000 and 120,000 HIV cases in Cambodia, compared to the figure of 50,000 to 90,000 cases released by the government only last November.
The World Health Organization puts the number of cases at closer to 150,000 and has recorded 103 AIDS deaths in Cambodia.
Bunleng said poverty and the rapid growth of the commercial sex industry were the main factors behind the spread of the disease.
He said the NAPC needed $10.5 million annually to conduct an effective anti-AIDS campaign, compared to the $50,00 to $60,000 it currently receives each year.
Observers add the growing rate of infection has resulted from changes in sexual mores -- particularly among young people -- as the Cambodia emerges from decades of war and isolation.
While agreeing the latest round of testing pointed to a continuing spread of the disease Pawana Wienrawee, United Nations AIDS director for Cambodia, said the study focused too heavily on prostitutes.
The figures give a distorted view of the epidemic and do not concentrate enough on male clients, she said.
She said the government was currently drafting new measures to increase prevention efforts among men most likely to have sex with prostitutes, including soldiers, police and taxi drivers.
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