There will be up to 80,000 people dying of Aids and 50,000 others getting infected with the HIV virus by 2011 if the currently high morbidity rate continues, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare warned Thursday in an Aids-related seminar.

Director-general Amphorn Nitisiri said there were 70 people with HIV/Aids dying on a daily basis, while 35 others were contracting the viral disease each day. There were 12,787 new Aids patients last year alone.

She said 85 per cent of Aids patients of around 500,000 were in the working age of 15-45 years. Of the total, 46,776 are beneficiaries of a state welfare scheme that provides anti-Aids medication.

--The Nation/ANN