KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - A total of 315 people died of AIDS in the first six months of the year.

Most of the HIV infection cases were in Kelantan (297), followed by Pahang (240), Terengganu (191), Selangor (151), Perak (108), Kedah (98), Johor (90), Sarawak (74), and Penang and the Federal Territory with 51 cases each.

Malaysian AIDS Council exco member Pax Tan gave the figures at a media sensitisation workshop here yesterday.

"Selangor had the most AIDS cases at 71, followed by Sarawak with 46, the Federal Territory, 39, and both Terengganu and Negri Sembilan at 33 cases each," he said.

Factory workers, fishermen, private sector workers, lorry drivers and housewives were the top five groups infected with HIV, Tan said.