As many as 82.2 percent of Korean AIDS patients have survived, the Ministry of Health and Welfare reported Thursday.

According to the report, a total of 7,656 people had been infected with AIDS as of the end of last year, of whom only 1,364 or 17.8 percent died of the disease.

The number of new infections topped the 700 mark in 2006 for the first time with 749 infections but continued to keep the level over the next five years. The number peaked at 773 last year but the deaths from AIDS were 149.

The ministry campaigned on the Plaza of Yongsan Station in Seoul to let the citizens know AIDS is not incurable and eliminate prejudice against AIDS patients, marking the World AIDS Day.

The campaign was participated by about 70 citizens, including Jun Byung-yool, director of the Korea Centers for Disease & Prevention, and Kim Min-ki, chairman of the Korea Federation for HIV/AIDS Prevention.

“AIDS is not contracted via physical contact as it is only 0.1 percent to 1 percent that it is infected from the disease sufferer with one sex,” said a ministry official.

The official said that the suspect will have to be examined more than12 weeks after sex as it is not checked whether the antibody is formed or not till then.

He also added that citizens can believe the health care centers affiliated with the ministry as it has better knowhow to check the disease than general commercial hospitals.