To mark World AIDS Day, free AIDS tests will be offered in Tel Aviv's Scheinin Park on Friday. The tests will be administered by health maintenance organization Clalit and Beilinson Hospital, but will be available to members of all the HMOs between 10:30 and 3 P.M.

As part of AIDS awareness week, free AIDS tests will also be available on the Tel Aviv University campus, Sunday through Tuesday, 10:00-16:00.

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At the end of last year, 5,130 HIV-infected people were living in Israel, of whom 384 were AIDS patients. During the course of 2005, 26 people died as a result of AIDS in Israel, and 350 new cases of HIV infection were discovered. This represents a 10 percent increase in new cases over the preceding three years.

Health Ministry official Dr. Daniel Shem Tov said most of the world's AIDs patients are in sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia. The ministry published figures yesterday indicating an increase in HIV infection as the result of homosexual relations.

Last year, 87 men were infected with the virus as a result of same-sex relations, constituting one-quarter of all new cases in Israel. To combat the phenomenon, the Health Ministry has launched an awareness campaign in cooperation with the gay and lesbian community.

Most of last year's new cases occurred among immigrants from countries where AIDs is more frequent, so the ministry is emphasizing intervention in the Ethiopian immigrant community, among others.

In addition, 51 intravenous drug users were infected last year.