Caribbean HIV cases fall

The number of cases of HIV in the Caribbean has fallen, it has been suggested.

This claim was made by an official at the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/Aids (Pancap).

The group said that new infections had dropped from 20,000 in 2007 to 17,000 last year.

Increasing use of condoms and educational measures in the region are cited by the body as reasons for this decline.

Improved health systems and better access to medication from patients were also noted.

However, Carl Browne, Pancap's director, told Agence France Presse that these statistics are "still very high for such a small region".

The comment comes as Pancap holds its annual general meeting, which takes place between October 28th and 30th in Grenada.

Earlier this week, new figures showed that there were 749 new cases of HIV in Kelantan last year, with 84,000 reported cases in total at the end of 2008.

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