There were 67 new HIV cases in the first three months of the year, with the number of infections attributed to a rise in homosexual transmission, according to figures released yesterday.
The Health Department said there were 18 new cases of transmission due to homosexual sex, compared with 11 in the previous quarter.
Infection through heterosexual sex dropped from 30 to 25 over the same period.
The department's senior medical officer Chan Kam-tim said the recorded rise in the number of HIV-infected homosexuals might be due to an increase in HIV testing, as well as a real increase in the number of infections.
He said he considered the public's knowledge about safe sex as high. 'But it is questionable whether they put it into practice even if they know how to protect themselves,' he said.
Other infections involved drug use, while there were 18 cases of 'unknown' transmission.
