XN000022-1991-07-31 — Page 10

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1991

244 VM'S RETURN TO VIETNAM

A GROUP OF 244 VIETNAMESE MIGRANTS TODAY (WEDNESDAY) RETURNED TO VIETNAM UNDER THE UNHCR'S VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION PROGRAMME.

COMPRISING 131 MEN, 52 WOMEN, 39 BOYS AND 22 GIRLS, THEY WERE THE 61ST BATCH TO GO BACK UNDER THE PROGRAMME.

THIS GROUP BROUGHT TO 8,306 THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VIETNAMESE MIGRANTS WHO HAVE RETURNED VOLUNTARILY.

ONE MORE CASE OF AIDS CONFIRMED

ONE MORE CASE OF AIDS (ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME) HAS BEEN CONFIRMED, BRINGING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF AIDS CASES IN HONG KONG

TO 54.

ANNOUNCING THIS TODAY (WEDNESDAY), A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SAID THE NEW AIDS PATIENT DIED SOON AFTER HE WAS DIAGNOSED TO HAVE THE DISEASE.

SO FAR, A TOTAL OF 37 AIDS PATIENTS DIED AND 17 OTHERS ARE BITHER UNDER COUNSELLING AND TREATMENT OR HAVE LEFT THE TERRITORY.

RELEASING THE STATISTICS ON THE AIDS SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMMR FOR JUNE, THE SPOKESMAN SAID FOUR MORE PERSONS INCLUDING A WOMAN WERE FOUND TO BE POSITIVE FOR THE HIV ANTIBODY TEST, TOTALLING 180 THE NUMBER OF HIV CARRIERS WHO HAVE NOT YET DEVELOPED AIDS.

OF THESE, 52 WERE HAEMOPHILIACS, 106 ACQUIRED THE INFECTION SEXUALLY, FOUR WERE DRUG ABUSERS, THREE ACQUIRED THE INFECTION THROUGH BLOOD TRANSFUSION AND THE INFORMATION FOR THE OTHER 15 WAS INADEQUATE FOR CLASSIFICATION.

UNDER THE AIDS SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMME WHICH STARTED IN 1985, A TOTAL OF 198,280 BLOOD SPECIMEN HAVE BEEN TESTED FOR THE AIDS VIRUS.

THE HONG KONG RED CROSS BLOOD TRANSFUSION

SCREENED ALL BLOOD DONORS FOR AIDS.

SERVICE HAS ALSO

UP TO JUNE, 910,077 UNITS OF BLOOD HAD BEEN TESTED AND 16 WERE FOUND POSITIVE.

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