DUSHANBE, January 26, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- 431 new cases of HIV infection were detected in Tajikistan last year, bringing the total number of people living with HIV in Tajikistan to 1,853, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Injecting drug users (IDUs) constitute 55 percent of the total number of HIV sufferers, officially registered in the country.

Labor migrants constitute 10.6 percent of the overall number of people living with HIV in the country – 197 labor migrants have been tested positive for HIV to this day, the source at a MoH noted.

424 HIV sufferers are currently undergoing antiretroviral therapy.

The source noted that 373 new cases of HIV infection were officially registered in Tajikistan in 2008 and 339 new HIV cases were registered in 2007.

We will recall that the first case of HIV infection was officially registered in Tajikistan in 1991.