A total of 365 HIV infection cases were reported last year, the ninth consecutive year of declines since 2015, the Centre for Health Protection announced today.

Despite the continuing drop in the number of HIV infection cases, the centre said the proportion of late presenters among newly reported cases has reached as high as 40% to 50% in recent years, and advised the public to use condoms consistently and properly to reduce the risk of infection.

Of last year’s HIV cases, 297 were reported in males and 68 in females.

A total of 216 cases involved homosexual or bisexual contact, 96 were via heterosexual contact, and the transmission route of the remaining cases was not reported.

The cumulative total of infection cases is 12,403 since 1984.

Since 1985, a cumulative total of 2,557 confirmed AIDS cases have been reported in Hong Kong.