The first warning signs that HIV and AIDS infections, as well as other communicable diseases, were increasingly rapidly in Greece were apparent as far back as February 2010, the health ministry admitted in an announcement on Thursday.

Since that time, mobile units from the Centre for the Control and Prevention of Diseases (KEELPNO) had examined more than 24,000 individuals and found 85 men and women that tested positive for the HIV virus.

Since September 2011, KEELPNO mobile units have begun taking blood samples with the consent of the examinees to test for HIV, hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis, finding a sharp increase of these diseases in the groups tested.

Recent health and sanitation legislation has also allowed KEELPNO staff, in cooperation with the police, to demand obligatory blood samples from individuals working in brothels, both legal and illegal, street prostitutes and drug users.

The health ministry has pledged that this mandatory testing will continue at an intense rate, ensuring that greater numbers of people working in the sex industry, both legally and illegally, are tested.

The ministry has also launched an information campaign to raise awareness among migrants and sex workers to the dangers of contagious diseases, approaching brothels and establishments they frequent in order to hand out flyers in the major languages spoken by immigrants and handing out free condoms.