Some 70,000 Peruvians, including unregistered cases, have been affected with the virus that causes the Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a senior official from Peru's Health Ministry said Friday.

Jose Sebastian, coordinator of the Peruvian Health Ministry's efforts to fight sexual diseases, told reporters that health services in Lima, Peru's capital, have reported 257 of full-blown AIDS, and 97 of them have died.

The number of people suffering from AIDS has risen in the departments and municipalities of Arequipa, Ica, Tacna, Moquegua, Ancash and Loreto, Sebastian said.

"Poverty and dereliction of duty which street children are experiencing ..." have aggravated the problem, said Ruben Mayorga, who is responsible for Peru at the United Nation's anti-AIDS body.

"Many street children are victims of rape and sexual exploitation," he said.

Mayorga said that of the 17,000 Peruvians who have AIDS virus, 396 are children under 14 and 430 are adolescents between 15 and 19 years old.

Source: Xinhua