Recorded AIDS Deaths in Iran Top 3,400

Agence France Presse (AFP)

Iran has recorded at least 3,409 deaths from AIDS, while another 2,097 people have been diagnosed as having the disease, according to health ministry figures reported by the ILNA news agency on Thursday. The news agency said a total of 20,130 people had tested positive for HIV. It did not specify whether that figure included those who had gone on to develop AIDS. The report said men accounted for a full 93 percent of recorded HIV infections. With testing facilities limited and HIV-infected people or those living with AIDS often unwilling to come forward, the health ministry has previously estimated that total HIV infections are four times higher than the recorded figure. The ministry says that intravenous drug use is the most common way HIV is transmitted in Iran. It has not made clear when it started compiling its figures.