Department revealed yesterday.

The department said yesterday that the number of people with HIV had increased from 180 in 1991 to 196 last year. The majority of those infected were males in the 20 to 49 age group.

But the figure also included four children.

There had been no significant changes in the distribution of cases, the department noted.

Of those infected 77 were intravenous drug abusers, 59 were homosexual or bisexual men, and 49 contracted it through heterosexual contact.

As of the end of December, last year, a total of 214 cases of AIDS had been reported. Most of the people with the disease were in the 20 to 49 age group; of which 117 were between 30 and 39, 31 were in the 20-to-29 age bracket, and 46 fell in the 40-to-49 age group.

But 11 people were between the ages of 50 and 59, eight people were 60 and older, and one was between the ages of one and four years old.

The disease has claimed at least 177 lives since the first reported AIDS death in the 1980s.

Last year 19 people were reported to have died as a result of AIDS.

Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said the figures substantiated Government's claim that it must increase efforts to reach young people and encourage them to change their lifestyles.

He said the fact that people in the 20 to 49 age group were HIV infected suggested that some were probably sexually active during their teens.