Associated Press (01.31.03)
Japan's health authorities announced Friday an increase in the number of people testing positive for HIV through December over the previous three months. Of the 139 new cases, 77 were transmitted via homosexual contact, said Makoto Iwakura, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Forty-five of the new cases were transmitted through heterosexual contact with no reported transmissions through infected needles. During the same October-December period, Japan's total number of AIDS patients increased to 2,549 with 61 HIV-positive people developing AIDS and four AIDS patients dying. The ministry's committee on AIDS surveillance began compiling statistics over three-month periods in 1984 after the first AIDS patient in Japan was diagnosed.

allAfrica.com (03.19.03)::Monitor (Kampala)
The Japanese charity organization Ashinaga plans to build Rainbow House, a home for AIDS orphans, at Nansana on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. Orphans will receive professional counseling, emotional and material support at the home. Construction will begin in a couple of months, said Okazaki Yukichi, Ashinaga's director of public relations. The house will be complete in November. "Uganda has the highest number of AIDS orphans in Africa; we want to raise awareness about the plight of these children and help them live normal lives," Okazaki said. Ashinaga is currently supporting 375 orphans.