Anonymous HIV tests free of charge

The Czech asylum centre for AIDS patients Dum Svetla has announced it is conducting anonymous HIV tests free of charge this week. The offer which is made at least once a year is an effort to get more people in high risk groups to undergo testing. The head of the Czech Society for AIDS patients Miroslav Hlavaty has warned that Czechs generally underestimate the risk of HIV infection and make very little effort to protect themselves. Doctors have registered 114 new cases of HIV infection this year bringing the overall number of cases registered since testing began in 1986 to 1636. 335 people have since developed full-blown AIDS, 176 have died.