C AMBODIA has confirmed its first Aids deaths, according to a report by local and

foreign experts on HIV and Aids.

"In 1994 the first cases of Aids in

Cambodia were diagnosed. To date, a total of nine cases have been diagnosed.

Three of the patients have since died, including one child," said the report.

The report also found Cambodia has more cases of HIV per head - ten for

every 100,000 people

- than Vietnam, at 2.51 and Laos at 1.71. The three countries lag far behind

Thailand, which has a rate of 1,242.1.

Data collected since 1991 showed

the gender ratio of HIV infection was three men to one woman, while

approximately 90 per cent of those infected were aged between 20 and 39 - a fact

that "poses serious risk to the labor force of Cambodia."

As of January

1995 more than 1,000 people were reported to have HIV, the virus believed to

cause Aids. However, experts estimate the number of real HIV cases is closer to

6,000. The rate of HIV positive tests is growing quickly, with 6.76 per cent of

blood donors in Phnom Penh testing positive in January this year, compared to

4.3 per cent for the whole of 1994 and 0.08 per cent in 1991.