A total of 229 people tested positive for HIV last year, down from 260 cases in 2002.

The numbers dipped significantly for five months beginning in April as the SARS outbreak kept people from clinics, a Health Department spokeswoman said.

Sexual transmission was to blame for 70 percent of the cases in the city. Fourteen percent of those infections were reported in people aged 55 or above, said S.S. Lee, a consultant for the Health Department.

Lee said despite the drop, HIV/AIDS is still a matter of concern.

"It is estimated that over 3,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in Hong Kong. The high HIV rates in neighbouring cities, extensive human mobility across borders and high-risk behaviour are some of the factors that may predispose Hong Kong to an upsurge of the epidemic," Lee added.

TERRA.WIRE