Number of people in Israel with HIV reaches all-time high

The Health Ministry on Monday reported that there are an estimated 6,275 people living with HIV in Israel, some of whom are still unaware of their medical condition.

The statistics, which were released ahead of World AIDS day on Tuesday, reveal that more people were checked for the virus in 2009 than any years prior. Despite the rise in Israel, there has been a 17 percent drop in the number of people testing for HIV throughout the world.

Until September 2009, only 245 people tested positive for the virus in Israel.

Some 390 people tested HIV positive in 2008, the highest number of infected cases reported since 1998.

Over the last decade, the number of people infected with the virus each year dropped to an annual average of 350.

The Health Ministry said Monday that over the last decade it has expanded its services to encourage regular testing, including free blood tests and prescribed medication into the government health basket.

The Israel AIDS Task Force said that it expects the number of positive tests to rise in 2009, predicting it could even climb above 400 new cases a year.

"The worrying trend in Israel reflects the lack of national resources allocated to education for prevention and I hope that the rising figures will wake the Health Ministry up to the situation," said Jonathan Karni, CEO for the Israel AIDS Task Force.

A recent poll conducted among 500 participants found that 24.7 percent of men questioned do not use condoms during casual sex with random partners. Some 20.7 percent of respondents said that they would forgo the use of a condom when a woman takes birth control. Some 13.7 of men said they made this choice due to lack of planning, and 5.1 percent based the decision on the fact that their partners appeared healthy.