THE CHANCELLERY OF
H.R.H. CROWN PRINCE Alexander II
OF YUGOSLAVIA
WORLD’S AIDS DAY
Belgrade, 1. December 2003 – TRH Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown
Princess Katherine attended a formal reception at the Aero Club tonight, on
the occasion of the World’s AIDS Day.
Beside Their Royal Highnesses, the reception was also attended by the
representatives of the diplomatic corps, and the Minister of Social Affairs
Dr. Gordana Matkovic.
According to the latest information by the UN AIDS Agency, the situation
with HIV epidemic is not encouraging at all. By the end of 2002, a total of
42 million people with HIV and AIDS were registered on our planet, out of
which there are 3.2 million children. Only 22 years after it was discovered
this dangerous disease, “the plague of our times” for which the adequate
cure has not been found yet, takes 8,000 lives a day on average and in facts
14,000 new people – every 14 seconds on average one person gets infected and
every 5 minutes someone dies of AIDS.
In our country, based on the information provided by the Institute for
the protection of Health “Batut”, 65 people infected by HIV were registered
in Serbia (without Kosovo and Metohija) in 2003, as well as 43 newly
infected persons. Since the first case of HIV infection in 1985, 1,702
people having HIV were registered by the end of 2002, out of which 1,126 had
AIDS and 830 died.
1997 HRHCP Alexander II All Rights Reserved