Phnom Penh, May 1 (IANS): Cambodia reported 1,400 new HIV cases last year, according to a National AIDS Authority's report on Monday.

"About four people become infected with HIV every day," the report said.

It said new HIV infections had dropped by 91 per cent since the peak of the HIV epidemic in 1996, but the pace of decline had slowed down to only 33 per cent since 2010, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Cambodia has made strong progress toward ending the AIDS epidemic," Ieng Mouly, chairman of the National AIDS Authority, said in a statement.

According to the report, by the end of 2022, there were some 76,000 people living with HIV (PLHIV) and 86 per cent of them were aware of their HIV status, while around 11,000 people did not know that they were living with HIV.

"About 64,931 PLHIV were accessing antiretroviral therapy and it translated that 99 per cent of PLHIV who knew their status were accessing treatment," the report said.

In Cambodia, the first HIV infections were detected and diagnosed in 1991 and the first AIDS case was found in 1993.

Cambodia's HIV infection rate is the highest in Asia.