AIDS Cases Double, U.N. Agency Says

More than 81,000 AIDS cases were reported to the World Health Organization by the end of February, nearly double the number registered a year before, the agency said Thursday.

However, nearly one-third of the countries reporting had not updated their national figures for at least six months, the organization said.

The U.N. agency said it was notified of 81,433 cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome in 133 countries, with 4,167 new cases in February alone. By the same point last year, 91 countries had reported 42,404 people suffering from the deadly disease.

The actual number of AIDS cases is believed to be twice the reported total, according to Dr. Jonathan Mann, head of the agency’s AIDS program. Mann has predicted at least 1 million cases by 1990.

The 42 countries that have not updated their numbers for at least six months included Rwanda and the Central African Republic, which last reported a combined figure of 959 cases in late 1986, WHO said.

The United States last month listed a total of 53,069 cases, up from 31,036 a year earlier. France reported 3,073 cases by Dec. 31, more than 2 1/2 times the 1,221 cases reported at the end of 1986.

The numbers reported by Canada increased less markedly. The figure stood at 1,488 in January, against 1,000 in April, 1987.

Uganda reported 2,369 cases by the end of October, four times the number registered 12 months earlier. The number of people suffering from the disease in Brazil more than doubled in 10 months, reaching 2,325 cases by Dec. 7.

Of 28 European countries reporting, Albania was the only one to list no cases. In the other 27 countries, the reported total of 10,177 cases represented a 128% increase within a year, the agency said.