According to federal health officials, HIV infects about 40 percent more people in the United States than the government has previously estimated.

A recent study conducted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that about 56,300 people in the U.S. are infected annually with AIDS virus compared to the approximately 40,000 infections a year that had been estimated for seven years by that the Atlanta-based agency.

In line with a report released one day before the International AIDS Conference, new infections are more and more often among gay men.

Cornelius Baker, policy adviser to the National Black Gay Men's Advocacy Coalition in Washington, stated that this higher number of HIV infections is due to the limitations regarding the use of national funds. In a telephone interview, he said that the shocking figure signifies the need of a larger amount of money allocated in prevention that would lead HIV infections to zero. “We need national leadership that will apply the resources to turn this epidemic around,'' he asserted.

The United States of America spend over $17 billion on AIDS care and treatment each year, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported. According to David Holtgrave, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher, the alarming number of HIV new cases may trigger to an extra amount of $250 million in cost growth in the next years.

The delay of releasing the new data sparked criticism among several leading health experts. Moreover, The Lancet severely criticized CDC for failing to release earlier the statistics, saying that “U.S. efforts to prevent H.I.V. have failed dismally.”