OVER 40 MLN PEOPLE TO BE INFECTED WITH AIDS BY 2000.

MOSCOW, January 1 (Itar-Tass) - The most optimistic forecasts say that over
40 million people will be infected with AIDS by the end of 1999, the World
Health Organization reports.

Every minute five people aged 10 to 24 are infected with the AIDS virus in
the world, the organization reported.

In 1998, 210 countries officially reported 1,893,000 AIDS cases, which is 15
percent more as compared to 1997. However, this number makes about one
seventh of the true number of AIDS cases. There are 30.6 million grown ups
and children living with AIDS across the globe, 5.8 million of whom were
infected in 1997.

A tendency of decline in AIDS cases was for the first time registered in
Russia in 1998. According to the Russian Health Ministry, 3,259 people were
infected with AIDS over 11 months of the year, which is 18 percent less than
in the same period in 1997.

Specialists have not developed a common opinion on the decrease in the
number of AIDS cases. Some believe that fewer people are turning to medical
establishments, which results in a decrease in statistic data. Others say
the disease was spreading rashly in 1997 among drug addicts, and most of
them have already been infected. Some 90 percent of AIDS cases are drug
addicts.

On the whole, medics are rather pessimistic about stabilization of the
situation, as the AIDS virus can be found now in the drug itself. Drug
producers, testing the narcotic, infect it with the virus as most of them
are already AIDS carriers. In this case, one-time syringes fail to give
protection to drug addicts.

Russia officially registers 10,283 AIDS-infected people, including 418
children, while 222 people have already died, including 77 children.
Specialists are registering a dangerous tendency. AIDS-infected women,
usually drug-addicts, are more and more often giving birth to infected
children. There are 112 children born with AIDS in Russia.

Moscow and the Moscow region have registered 1,222 people infected with
AIDS. Most of them are drug addicts using syringes. The deadly infection can
also be spread during a sexual intercourse. Russia lacks money to treat
AIDS cases and develop preventive programmes.

Developed countries are using combined treatment of AIDS, using several
medicines, which gives an opportunity to reduce the concentration of virus
in blood. However, the virus can change, and the scientists must keep
working over new medicines.

African countries situated south of Sahara are the most hit by the deadly
virus. Over 21 million people are believed to have AIDS there. Official
statistic data does not reflect the true situation as lab diagnostics are
not available in most of those countries.